The Return of The Dragon Prince
by aznbooklover
Summary: 2 years after the battle for Zzyzx, Kendra, Bracken, and everyone are happily living in Fablehaven. But what would happen if Gavin came back asking for forgiveness...and Kendra's heart? An adventure-filled romance about the love triangles and hardships of old and new characters in Fablehaven. Rated T just in case.
1. The Return

**A/N: This is my first ever Fanfiction ever! If you think it's terrible then I apologize^.^**

**This takes place after Book #5, two years later.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, etc. (Fan-made story obviously)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Kendra sat down on the grass, stretching out her legs and placing her hands behind her. In the field in front of her, Seth, Newel, Doren, and Verl, who kept glancing and winking at her, were playing football. She was so busy watching the game she didn't notice someone approaching her from behind.

"Hey, how's the game going?" Bracken crouched next to her.

"Not so bad… Seth and Verl are only behind by a few points and they are really close to making a touchdown."

Bracken chuckled. "They'll get that touchdown soon enough." Then he sighed. "It's weird isn't it? Everything's all normal since it's been two years since the battle for Zzyzx. A lot have things have changed after all that time."

Kendra nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, but there were a lot of good changes. Like you. You practically live next door in the fairy shrine. And me. I'm 17 now. I'm going to become an Eternal in a year."

"Haha, that's true. And I'm happy for it." He kissed the top of her head before getting to his feet. "I'll go get us a few drinks, okay?"

When a few minutes passed, and she was getting bored by the game, Kendra decided to take a walk around Fablehaven. It was a nice day anyhow. But she had to tell Seth so he could tell Bracken where she had gone. "Seth! SETH!"

He didn't even turn around. There was only one thing to do…

"VERL!" In less than 10 seconds Verl was standing eagerly in front of Kendra.

"Oh my, what good fortune has fallen upon me! Kendra has called upon me to assist her! On such-" She cut him off.

"Ah, yes. Please do me a favor and tell Seth to tell Bracken when he comes that I'm taking a walk. Can you do that for me?"

Verl looked like he was ready to explode with happiness. "Oh, Bracken isn't here? In his place would you like me to accompany you? A date seems to fit this utterly beautiful weather. Or would you rather join the game of football? Seth might allow you to join in if I personally asked. You know of the brotherly affection we share-"

"That's, uh, very kind of you to offer, but I can manage alone. Just telling Seth is good enough for me. Thank you." She pat his arm before walking in the direction of the fairy shrine.

Looking back, Kendra saw Verl bounding over to Seth and jumping up and down. _Verl seemed really happy that Bracken wasn't here. He never approaches me when Bracken's around. I don't think they like each other much…_ Kendra thought.

Suddenly a mixture of silver and blue whizzed from behind. Kendra immediately knew who it was.

"Shiara! Is something wrong? Did something happen to Raxtus?"

"Oh, Kendra, thank goodness. No, no, Raxtus is fine. It's my other fairy friend. She was in the woods the other day- I think she found a piece of glass to look at her reflection- and she saw a big scary looking creature coming towards Fablehaven!"

Kendra grew worried. "Coming here? Okay, tell Seth or Bracken what you told me. I'll go into the woods and check it out."

"You can't go in there alone! It's dangerous. It could hurt you!"

"I'll be fine. Hurry!"

She jogged towards the woods and stopped when she reached the boundary line. "Here goes nothing."

She walked and walked deeper into the forest and all the while it grew darker and darker. Before she went into the woods, it had been around 4pm…now she had no watch or anything to tell how long she had been in here.

When she was just about to give up, she heard a thud to her right. Her head snapped towards the sound. A dark figure around her size had fallen against a tree. This couldn't be the creature the fairy was talking about. But then again the fairies thought _she _was big. She had to be cautious if this was the rumored creature.

Kendra slowly approached the stranger. As she got closer she noticed it was a human. And male. She relaxed and became more confident. "Who are you? Why are you coming to Fablehaven? Are you a spy for the Evening Star?"

His response was a low grunt.

Just then she saw the cuts and bruises on his body. "Oh, God! What happened to you? You're…."

No answer. His face was turned away from her.

Kendra gingerly walked around him to see his face. His hair was matted with sweat across his eyes and brow. Hesitantly she swept aside his hair to finally reveal his face. The first thing she saw was his eyes. Black. But what terrified her was the familiar face staring back at her.

"No-o-o…y-you….."

"H-h-help me….." he croaked.

Kendra just stared in shock.

In front of her lay the deceiving dragon prince himself.

_Gavin Rose._

Kendra stared at him for a long time. But then reality caught up to her.

She let out a shriek of horror before stumbling backwards into a nest of roots and shrubs. The whole while, her eyes never left Gavin's face.

"No…wait, please…." Gavin sounded desperate.

Kendra shook her head frantically. "I'm not ever….going to…trust someone like you again!" she screamed. Tears were falling down her face, but she could barely feel it. She staggered to her feet and ran to the direction she had come from.

Not once did she look back.

*.*.*.*

"So don't worry 'bout her."

He nodded. "Oh, ok thanks, Seth. Do you want these drinks? They'd get all watery by the time I've caught up with Kendra. I don't think she'd mind."

"She wouldn't." Seth said eagerly grabbing for the drinks.

I ruffled his hair a bit. "See you then."

Bracken jogged over to the fairy shrine, where Seth Said Kendra would probably be going.

Suddenly, a fairy he knew flew straight towards his face. "Your Highness!" She bowed quickly.

"Shiara, no need for formality, remember? Bracken is fine."

"Yes, yes. But please! My fairy friend said there was a creature in the woods coming towards Fablehaven!"

"What is it?" He demanded. This was serious. But then he thought of something more important. "Where's Kendra?"

Shiara flew around nervously. "She was the first one I told… and she went into the woods alone to see what it was-"

"WHAT?" Bracken practically yelled in her face. He restrained himself from yelling at her more. "Okay, okay. Go get Seth and Stan and Warren. Or anyone else that can back me up. Go!"

With a quick bow she zipped away.

He charged towards the woods. But then a loud scream from the woods stopped him abruptly. Kendra.

He ran faster.

*.*.*.*

She tripped multiple times over roots and rocks, but never stopped once. It was a relief to see faint daylight in the distance, getting closer. She had been sure she was lost only moments ago.

As the edge of the woods grew closer, a figure was coming towards her. At first she panicked and desperately shifted gears to turn back around—what I it was Gavin?—until she recognized Bracken's welcoming figure.

"Bracken…" she called out in a strangled voice. "In there…he…back…Raxtus…not dead…"

Bracken pulled my hair away from her tearstained face and shushed her gently. "It's okay, it's okay. Let's go." He slung Kendra's arm around his neck and wrapped his arm around her waist for support. And sh was grateful for it because she doubted he would have be able to walk on her own since she had run the whole way.

Kendra immediately relaxed as the distance between Kendra and Gavin grew larger. She dreaded the moment she would face him again, because she knew this wasn't the last time she would see him.

*.*.*.*

"Kendra, what did you see?" Stan asked her gently. Stan, Ruth, Hank, Seth, Bracken, Warren, Vanessa, and Kendra were all together outside of the fairy shrine.

Kendra took a deep breath. "Grandpa, I know this is going to be hard to believe…but I saw Gavin in the woods."

"But that's impossible! Raxtus ate him, didn't he?" Seth said.

"I don't know, I don't know. But it was him!" Kendra said numbly.

Stan turned to Warren and Bracken. "Go into the woods and find him."

*.*.*.*

A half hour later they returned with Gavin in between them. Both of his arms were over Warren's and Bracken's shoulders. It looked like Gavin was being dragged along. Just as if he couldn't walk on his own.

Everyone except Warren, Bracken, and Kendra gasped in shock.

"It is him…." Seth exclaimed in disbelief. "But he _died._"

"Well, obviously he's not dead enough," Warren said. "But he's hurt…there's cuts and bruises…. Stan?"

"He's dangerous. We can't let him into the main house or trust him for that matter," Hank crossed his arms.

Stan thought for a while before sighing in defeat. "Put him in the dungeon…but we're going to take care of him still. We can't trust him just yet, but I feel that he has a story to tell."

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it! First story ever :]<strong>

**I'll update probably in a few days or so. Sorry if it's longer XD**

**Please review! You are free to give me any ideas for future chapters!**

**(If there were any big mistakes you noticed in this chapter or any others plz PM me or review it so I can quickly correct it!)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-aznbooklover**


	2. Gavin's Story

**R&R :) **

**Thank you for all support!**

**Same Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, etc**

**Preview:**

_Stan thought for a while before sighing in defeat. "Put him in the dungeon…but we're going to take care of him still. We can't trust him just yet, but I feel that he has a story to tell."_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"Are you okay, Kendra?" Bracken handed her a glass of water.

"I'm fine now. I just can't believe that he's still alive." She took a sip of water. "Where's he now?"

"Stan put him in the dungeon, but because of his injuries, the dungeon is more comfortable than most. Warren and Vanessa have been the ones treating him and bandaging up his cuts," Bracken answered. "Tanu already gave Gavin a potion so that when he won't be able to change into his dragon form."

The door to the attic room opened and Seth poked his head through. "Hey, you guys! Gavin's up! He's going to eat dinner with us apparently. Grandpa said that if Kendra doesn't want to come its fine."

Kendra got up. "No. I want to hear what he has to say."

*.*.*.*

When Kendra, Seth and Bracken reached the dining table, Warren, Tanu, Hank, Vanessa, Stan, Ruth, and lastly, Gavin were all seated.

Kendra noticed that more than half of the bruises and cuts that were originally on Gavin's body were either healed or gone. She leaned towards Seth. "How is Gavin all healed?"

"Tanu gave him healing potions, but it's mostly because of Gavin being a dragon that he's able to heal faster when well fed and in good health," Seth whispered.

The three of them took seats just across from Gavin, who was now washed clean, but in loose shackles. Kendra avoided eye contact with him.

"Gavin agreed to tell us his story, beginning from the battle from Wyrmroost," Stan explained to the three.

"How do we know he will tell us the truth?"

"Tanu used truth serum, so that Gavin has no choice but to tell the truth."

Gavin looked around the table. "Can't you take the shackles off? I'm not going to attack or hurt anyone. You already gave me the serum so you know that whatever I say is true."

Seth cleared his throat loudly. "Sooo Gavin…about Kendra—"

Kendra snapped her head towards him. "Don't even think about it."

"Can't I just ask _one _question? This was just like that time in Wyrmroost when Thronis gave us those collars that would strange us if we didn't tell the truth. Actually…I already asked Gavin a question that time." Seth wiggled his eyebrows at Gavin. He obviously wasn't that wary or concerned about Gavin.

"Seth, how about you ask after Gavin tells his story?" Hank suggested.

"Fine."

Hank gestured for Gavin to start.

He cleared his throat. "I'll start from when Raxtus 'ate' me. Well, as a dragon prince I have other powers that dragons do not. Instead of going into one human form, by using a whole lot of energy, I can make a clone human."

"Like two Gavins?"

"Yes. I can only control one body at once. Due to this, my clone is actually very easy for, say, a narcoblix to take over that body. So when I split, I hid my main human body somewhere safe so if my plans went wrong, which they did, I would still actually be alive and have an alternative form to go to. The Gavin that Kendra saw was still me, but not in the regular human body I usually am in." Gavin hesitated. "So just before Raxtus ate me, I transferred my energy into my main human body. What Raxtus ate was more of a corpse."

Seth cringed. "Ew."

"Transferring all my energy from a long distance weakened me. Even though I managed to get back into my usual human body, I was only awake a second before I became unconscious out of exhaustion. I was still unconscious by the time you all left. I looked for signs that you group was still there, but other dragons eventually informed me that you had left long past. I stayed in Wyrmroost for a while, a few months or so, to gain energy and hide out. I made plans to leave and seek a place to stay. It wasn't long after when I shifted forms and left."

"So where did you eventually go?"

"I didn't think at first to go to Fablehaven. I went back to the Society to claim something of mine and to take a break. I thought you might find out I was still alive and want to end me for good."

"What, for revenge?" Warren asked.

"Those were my thoughts, yes."

Kendra said, "Even if it was you, we wouldn't kill anyone just for revenge."

Gavin looked away uncomfortably.

"What happened next, Gavin?"

"I flew far to go to the Society of the Evening Star. I went to a hidden base in Canada."

"There's a Society base in Canada?" Seth cut in. Kendra shushed him.

"What happened there?" Ruth inquired.

**Flashback**

_He was tired. He had barely any energy left to walk through the halls and stay upright. Finally, he was escorted in front of a splendid polished door. He wrapped his numb fingers around the knockers and banged it against the door three times. "Come in."_

_The door was opened by a guard clad in weapons. Gavin walked straight inside and calmly faced the official. He wore a tailored suit with the Society emblem on his chest pocket. His beard and mustache were closely trimmed and cut precisely. There was a slight notch cut from his ear, like a jigsaw puzzle piece._

"_Navarog, you came back."_

"_I prefer to go by my real name, sir," Gavin said._

"_Gavin Rose?" the official said. "Isn't that the fake name the Master gave to you?"_

"_Only 'Rose' was fake. Gavin is my real name." The official raised his eyebrows. "Sir."_

"_Okay, Gavin. What brings you here after all this time? We've been waiting for your report for months. We thought you were dead. Spies have informed us that the Fablehaven force has continued on. They succeeded in closing the gates of Zzyzx and the fairykind girl was able to kill the Demon king."_

_Gavin jerked his head up. "Kendra?"_

"_Yes. Wasn't it your mission to stop them at all cost?"_

"_There were…complications," Gavin answered quickly. "It was out of my control! Please don't…."_

"_Please don't what? Hurt him? Don't worry. He's fine. At the moment."_

"_I can still help you! If you'd just give me a second chance—"_

"_There's no time. While you were gone we have made decisions that don't concern you."_

_Gavin froze. "What are you going to do?"_

_The man absently shuffled folders on his desk. They were marked Classified. "You don't need to worm your way into matters that are out of your hands. You have proven to be useless. With your true identity, was it that hard for you to eliminate the enemy?"_

"_As I said before, there were factors that you hadn't anticipated."_

"_I would have thought you could have managed on your own."_

"_Yes…no….What do you want me to do now?"_

_The official thought. "Nothing. You are being released from service."_

"_What?" he said, unbelieving._

"_You have deemed to be useless now. You may go."_

"_And—"_

"_No," he interrupted sharply. "We have a plan and it involves him. He will not be accompanying you."_

"_Sir, I don't think—"_

_The official tauntingly rested his hands under his chin. "You're free to leave. Although I'm sorry to say that there will be no assistance for you to rebound back into the real world." He didn't look sorry at all. "Good-bye, Navarog."_

**End of flashback**

"Then they threw me out. I transformed back into dragon form and flew out of Canada. I lost track of direction and eventually stopped at a forest. Soon I also lost track of time. I preyed off of other creatures in the forest, but a time came when creatures were more wary of me and it became harder to feed," Gavin continued.

"If you estimate it now, how much time do you think you were living like that?"

He paused and thought for a bit. "Around two years and a half. But it feels like only half that time had passed. I was mostly in dragon form when I was in the forest. Like I said, it became harder to feed and I lost more and more energy. I wasn't able to get enough energy as a dragon, so I changed back to a human. I don't need to obtain as much energy when I'm human."

Gavin paused to think, but decided to continue instead. "I began to realize that I couldn't continue much longer than this. What would I have been able to get out of the opening of Zzyzx anyway? I felt pretty stupid and ashamed to have been on the other side." He shook his head as if he was clearing his mind. "But then I thought of you guys and Fablehaven. I knew that you could help me. So I made my way here. I got a few directions from people and creatures who pitied me. And then a Fablehaven fairy saw me. I knew I had to be close."

"Shiara's friend," Ruth said thoughtfully with a nod.

"Sure. Then I was too weak to go on. I collapsed next to a tree. I was only partly conscious. Kendra came. I asked for help…" Gavin glanced over at Kendra.

She looked down at her hands.

"I understand her though. I was believed to be dead. And most of all, I was me. And here we are now. At the end of it all, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I…I know how pitiful and bad this looks, but I sincerely want to help you defeat what's left of the Society."

It was all silent. Everyone was considering and replaying the entire conversation.

Stan cleared his throat. "Yes, you took the truth serum. But what could you do for us? As good individuals we can give you a place to stay until you fully heal. But then we would send you out again. And for what? So that you could start a whole cycle?"

"I know it's not as good as what you have done for me, but I offer Society plans and protection," Gavin said confidently. "I can let you in to Society secrets, ideas, everything! And if ever you need it, as a dragon prince I could help you fight and defend. And I also know how strategize…and how the Society strategizes. I could be a big help to you. And your side." He swiveled around hopefully. "I want to repay you for your generosity and for what…I did in Lost Mesa and Wyrmroost."

Kendra couldn't control herself anymore. Her chair flew back with a clatter as she stood up. "I don't care if you took the serum! How could I trust you again? Warren, don't you remember? He trapped you in the knapsack without even a bit of conscience! And he's Navarog. The _evil _dragon prince! Who is he really, Gavin Rose or Navarog? Oh wait, Gavin Rose doesn't even _exist_! He betrayed and tricked us with his stupid acting skills and his stutter… I don't care if you trust him! I'm not taking another chance on _him_!"

With that she left the table and ran up the stairs to seek sanctuary in her attic room.

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><p><strong>Plz review and continue supporting!<strong>

**Special thanks to **_**ThoughtThinker**_**! Thanks for your review and for reading:D**

—**aznbooklover **


	3. Decisions and Results

**Same reminder & same disclaimer!**

**Preview:**

_With that she left the table and ran up the stairs to seek sanctuary in her attic room._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Kendra jumped up on her bed, curled up in a ball, and cried into her knees. Sure, what she just did was embarrassing and she shouldn't have done it, but she didn't regret it all. What she had said was the truth. There was just no way she could trust Gavin that easily. She wasn't just going to let him get away with his past crimes. It would take much more than a truth serum to make her believe that he was on the good side.

*.*.*.*

Back at the table everyone was silent. Seth lifted Kendra's chair back into place.

Bracken spoke first. "I'm going to go check on Kendra to see if she's alright."

"Who are you again?" Gavin asked.

"Bracken, the son of the Fairy Queen."

"Ohhh…you're the unicorn." Gavin leaned back with a smirk on his face. "Let me guess, you're Kendra's century-year-old boyfriend?"

"He's older," Seth piped up. "More like 5 centuries or something…"

Bracken didn't say anything.

"Silence means no, I'm guessing." And quietly he added, "Then I still have a chance…"

The only one who heard was Seth. "Wait, you actually—"

"Everyone, please quiet down. Gavin, you, I, and Stan will have a private chat with you to get things clear. Meanwhile, everyone, I request you leave the room now," Hank interrupted.

"But—"

"Please."

Everyone except the three got up and left the table. As Bracken left, Gavin gave him a last narrowed glance.

*.*.*.*

Kendra was feeling better and her cheeks had already dried. The only sign that she had cried was her reddish eyes. But she didn't want to go out yet.

Someone knocked at the door. She didn't say anything. It could have been anyone at the door.

"Kendra, it's me Bracken. I'm coming in…"

She sat up in relief and watched him slowly walk toward the edge of her bed. "Shouldn't you be down there with them?"

"The meeting's over. The only people left talking are Hank, Stan, and Gavin." He sat down and took her hand. "Are you okay?"

"You've been asking me that a lot lately…but yes, I'm fine. That was pretty embarrassing huh? How did everyone react? They must think…." Kendra didn't finish.

"No, no. Everyone understands you. It's fine." Bracken's face hardened. "And I agree with you. I don't like the way Gavin talks…or acts for that matter. Promise me you'll be careful around him."

"Don't worry about that. I'm not planning on approaching him anytime soon," she assured him.

He gave her a half smile and kissed her forehead. "Good, then. I'll be back if I can. I'll check downstairs if I'm needed for anything."

"Wait," she said, grabbing his arm. "I'm going with you. I think I've been in here long enough. I can't just hole up in here forever anyway."

*.*.*.*

As they walked into the dining room, Stan, Hank, and Gavin looked up.

"Grandpa Sorenson, Grandpa Larsen, I apologize for earlier," Kendra said, without even glancing at Gavin.

"Apology accepted. Everyone does have their own opinion," Hank replied.

"Yes, and we are done here. Kendra, if it doesn't bother you too much, Gavin will be staying in one of the upper floor rooms instead of the dungeon. He has provided us with information and certain protection that propels us to treat him as a decent guest for the time being. Gavin is also aware of the consequences if he doesn't honor our agreements or puts us in any danger consciously."

Kendra nodded reluctantly.

Bracken stepped forward. "If I can, I would also like to stay in Fablehaven…inside the main house."

Gavin scowled. "Unicorn, don't you live in the fairy shrine, right there? What's the whole point?"

"I'm staying here for Kendra's protection and for everyone else's."

"Against?"

"You."

"Are you trying to prove something? To Kendra?"

"What about you?"

"Stop it," Kendra said.

Hank cleared his throat. "Bracken you are welcome to stay here, though I am sure there is no need for you two to fight the whole time."

Seth walked in. "Ugh, I missed something didn't I? Next time, someone has to call me for these things!" Kendra glared at him. "But seriously, what happened?"

"I will be staying here in the main house. And so will the unicorn," Gavin reviewed, stretching his shoulders.

"Ohhh, this is gonna get soooo good!" Seth said with a sly face. "Who will win? Light against dark! Unicorn vs. Dragon!"

"Seth…" Kendra warned. Even though he was now 15, he still acted like he had 2 years ago.

*.*.*.*

By dinnertime, everyone was once again met up at the dining table. Kendra still avoided Gavin and Seth observed the both of them closely. Bracken did the same. To sum it all up, everything was awkward around dinner.

"Ahem. For those who don't know, Gavin and Bracken will be staying inside the main house. We don't know until when but time will tell," Stan said. "For now everything will go back to normal. Of course, with the exception of our new guest. I'm sure there's been enough excitement enough for today so I propose that Gavin's new information will be discussed in the near future, just not this evening. Unless something happens, we will—"

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Ugh, what is that?"

Stan quickly got to his feet. "It is the alarm outside. It only sounds when there's trouble coming into Fablehaven!"

Everyone rushed outside to the front of the house. In the distance a big figure was lumbering unsteadily their way.

"Hugo!"

The colossal golem slowed down as he got closer to them. He looked as serious as a giant made out of dirt could look.

"Hugo, what's out there?" Ruth asked him urgently.

"Bad. Creatures. Attacking Fablehaven. Coming here. Now."

* * *

><p><strong>What will happen next? Read the next chapter to find out XD<strong>

**Don't forget to review!**

**Special thanks to **_**Fairytale14**_**! Thank you for your review and support!**

**Thank to all readers of ROTDP**

—**aznbooklover **


	4. Attack

**A/N: I'm not so good at writing action scenes...and I also excluded Stan and Hank because I can't really imagine them fighting with swords, or any other weapons. I know this is supposed to be romance, but this scene plays a bigger part than it seems. I apologize if it's a bad quality chapter!**

**Preview:**

_The golem slowed down as he got closer to them. He looked as serious as a giant made out of dirt could be. _

"_Hugo, what's out there?" Ruth asked him urgently._

"_Bad. Creatures. Attacking Fablehaven. Coming here. Now."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Multiple thuds could be heard from just outside the gates of Fablehaven.

"We are under attack! But who's attacking?" Seth asked Hugo.

"Demons. Bad."

Bracken looked pointedly over at Gavin. "From the Society of the Evening Star?"

Gavin walked over to him and put his faces only inches away from his face. "What are you implying, Unicorn?"

Kendra pulled them away from each other. "You guys, stop it! Everyone we have to go gear up!"

"Stan and I will stay in the main house to keep an eye on them and to contact the Knights of Dawn!" Hank informed them.

Everyone else ran into the house to claim their weapons. Warren, Seth, Vanessa, and Bracken claimed series of swords and daggers, while Ruth went straight for a crossbow and a lightweight quiver of arrows. Kendra picked out a sleek longbow and a heavier quiver of arrows, and a small dagger that she sheathed on her ankle, just in case. For the past two years, she and Seth had practiced a bit of martial arts and defense skills, but Kendra had mostly focused on archery, while Seth worked on sword fighting.

Warren kept adjusting his grip on a broadsword. "I hope I'm not too rusty… I haven't held a sword in years." He flipped it around his hand.

"Think about that later, let's go!" Seth was already running towards the gates with Ruth at his heels.

The rest followed in close pursuit. The banging got louder as the distance between them and the demons grew smaller.

Soon the 3 demons were in clear view. They were a dull brown-grayish color but were covered in a thick slime, except for their legs. Their bodies were broad on top and slimmed down at the waist and feet. They had three skinny, muscled legs with two toes each and no arms. There were multiple slits on the broader part of their bodies, which hid long black, flexible tongues. A fat yellow eye rested at the very top of their heads. The smallest one was the size of two grown men stacked on top of each other. The second one was twice as tall as the first, while the last one was the biggest—only slightly smaller the size of the Fablehaven main house.

Bracken turned to their force. "I know these kinds of demons! They're called Cytrions. The slits hide long black tongues, but under the smallest slit is a purple tongue. Be on watch for that one, even if it rarely comes out. The slime on that certain one has poison, and if it makes physical contact on our skins, we'll be poisoned. I've never heard of someone who's survived it. Aim for their legs, it's the weakest point."

Vanessa looked around. "Where's Gavin?"

From the woods, a giant black dragon appeared. Gavin. He flew over to them and landed close by them.

"Okay, Bracken, Seth, and I will take the biggest one. Ruth and Gavin, you get the middle one. Kendra and Vanessa will handle the last one," Warren briefed. "Now, go!"

Kendra ran over to make a safe distance between her and the monster. Her longbow was more effective when farther away from the target. Vanessa positioned herself next to the demon.

"Kendra, remember to aim for the legs!" Vanessa said.

Soon Vanessa was busy defending herself from multiple black tongues. They attacked her from all sides and forced her to use two swords at once. She managed to stab one of the tongues, and it slithered back into its slit, taking the sword with it.

Kendra was having trouble getting a good target on the legs. The tongues were always blocking or shielding the legs. She had already used up three arrows trying to cover for Vanessa. She didn't want to use up all the arrows so she decided to look for a weaker looking spot on the Cytrion.

_This isn't working. There has to be another place where I can hit it, and weaken it. Aiming for the broader part isn't going to help at all; that's where all the bulk and protection is. But above it is the eye…_

She raised her bow and quickly placed one of her sharpest and biggest arrows in her bow and targeted the giant yellow eye. Her nimble fingers carefully pulled back into a long draw, and released. It planted itself right in the middle of the eye and gross yellow pus poured out and streamed down its chest. The Cytrion screamed in agony and tripped over its bruised legs.

Even though it was only a moment, the demon's tongues gave a clear opening to its legs, giving Vanessa a chance to throw a broadsword at the middle leg. It fell over backwards and landed with a giant thud. Before it could get up, Kendra rained down a bunch of arrows on the other legs. Vanessa used her time cutting the black tongues cleanly in half. More pus puddled around its body. With a final, slow stab at its head, the demon stopped moving. It was dead.

"Good job, Kendra," Vanessa praised with a deep breath. "Let's go help the others!"

Gavin and Ruth were winning their battle with their Cytrion. It had scratches all over its body and demon blood covered them. Gavin had bitten off many of the black tongues, but a few were still in motion. Many of Ruth's crossbow arrows were sticking out of the legs. Ruth and Gavin each had injuries, but they were only minor.

The ones with the most trouble were Seth, Bracken, and Warren. Each of the fighters was bleeding in one place or the other and their clothes were covered in dirt. Seth was currently fending off a giant long tongue and Bracken and Warren were attempting to reach the legs without immediate success.

The Cytrion looked angrier than ever and seemed very determined to beat the three. Although, cuts wounded its body, it didn't seem bothered by them in the least. It emitted a ear-piercing roar and barreled through their defenses.

Seth was knocked backwards into a tree by a tongue. "Seth!" Kendra screamed frantically. She sprinted over to where he was already getting up.

"I'm fine. This isn't the first time this happened." He dusted off his jeans. "He's been angry ever since Bracken stabbed his right leg. Kendra, Vanessa, how did you beat your Cytrion?"

"The legs aren't the only weak points. The eye can be used as a distraction. I'll hit it with an arrow and give you guys time to beat it down." Kendra made her way to the tree and climbed up its limbs. When she reached a sturdy branch, she straddled herself on it and got ready to aim.

It wasn't so easy to hit the eye this time. Surprisingly, the eye was smaller, and the monster was rapidly moving now that Vanessa, Ruth, and Gavin had joined the fight. Gavin had gone back to biting off the tongues, and Ruth helped Seth cover for Bracken, Warren, and Vanessa.

Although she had avoided asking for his help, she knew she had no choice. "Gavin!" Kendra called out. The black dragon made time to turn its mighty head towards her. "Gavin, try to stop the Cytrion from moving! I need a clear shot for the eye!"

The black dragon nodded in understanding. He opened his wings and lifted off the ground to hover above the Cytrion. He dug his sharp claws into its shoulders to hold its position. The Cytrion couldn't move with making the punctures on his shoulders bigger.

Kendra knew it was time to shoot. She swiftly placed in an arrow, pulled back, and…missed. That didn't stop her. Without hesitation, she nocked another arrow into the bow. Just before releasing it, she saw the yellow eye turn right where she was in the tree. She let and watched her arrow fly. It wasn't right in the middle like the very first one, but it did its job just as well. The rancid yellow pus burst out of the opening in a putrid yellow cascade. More than half of the remaining tongues reached up to caress the eye.

Warren signaled for everyone to attack the legs now that the tongues were out of the way. Everyone launched forward and attacked with an increased energy. Gavin brutally sawed off a long leg, causing the beast to tip over and crash to the ground. As the cuts on its legs increased, it gave in and the monster slowly stopped fighting back. It didn't move.

Kendra relaxed and remained sitting on the branch. The battle was over.

Warren and the others gathered around the beast's head. Gavin approached them, back in human form.

"That took forever!" Seth complained. He kicked aside one of the tongues.

"Yes, but its over. We have to figure where they were from and where they were here. Let's go talk about this back in the house." Warren turned around and took a step back to the house.

Before she followed Warren's example, Ruth saw the smallest of the slits suddenly open. "Warren, get down!"

Warren instantly dropped down with his stomach touching the ground. A blur of purple flew over his head. The poisoned purple tongue.

But it wasn't after Warren. The purple tongue darted straight for the tree. Straight for Kendra. It roped itself around her left arm and yanked her down from the tree. She screamed as she fell against the asphalt. It was dragging her back to its giant bulk. Frantically, she reached for her hidden dagger on her ankle. Using her free hand, she hacked at the tongue until it released its grip and slithered back into its slit.

Everyone else was stabbing at its head and the slit of the purple tongue until they were sure it was dead. Kendra pulled at the tongue piece still attached to her left arm.

Bracken ran over to where Kendra was on the ground, fidgeting and kicking out in pain. Her entire left side of her body, except for her face and parts of her leg, was covered in bruises and scratches from when she had hit the ground from the tree and was dragged. But the worst part was her lower left arm. It looked as if it had been poured on by acid. The skin was bright red and smoke seemed to drift from the wound. Kendra held it close to her chest and tears were streaming down her face as she screamed out.

"Oh, God…" Bracken said. He picked Kendra up princess style—one arm underneath her legs, the other on her back—and turned back to others. "She's been poisoned and badly hurt. She needs help. We need to go now, before it's too late!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Just wanted to add a little action to the story to shake things up a bit. This helps the original plotline in the next chapter, I promise :]. Hope the action wasn't too bad. For any corrections or critiques, please review! Thank you for reading!<strong>

—**aznbooklover **


	5. Poisoned Choices

**A/N: Keep the reviews coming:D**

**Preview:**

"_Oh, God…" Bracken said. He picked Kendra up princess style—one arm underneath her legs, the other on her back—and turned back to others. "She's been poisoned and badly hurt. She needs help. We need to go now, before it's too late!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Kendra lay on a bed inside the main house. Where? She didn't know. The pain in her left arm had her full attention. She couldn't bear to look at it and her eyes were closed shut. The scratched up side of her body was already bandaged and in the process of healing. Her arm: not so much.

"Kendra, stay with me, don't close your eyes," Bracken encouraged her. He was holding her right hand, and she was squeezing the life out of it. She could also sense that Warren, Stan, Hank, Ruth, Seth, Vanessa, and even Gavin were there.

Tanu was at her side, trying to find an antidote to neutralize the poison. "Make her take this," he finally said, handing Bracken a spiraled bottle. "It's not the antidote, but it should dim the pain a bit."

Bracken held the bottle to her lips and helped her swallow the whole potion. The pain dulled only a small fraction. Then Kendra started to panic. "I—I can feel it spreading…the poison's going up my arm."

"This is a very rare demon poison. Cytrions haven't been seen in the last few centuries. Their poison is very fatal, I hate to say, and very few know of the antidote for it. I'm afraid I am not one of them," Tanu said sadly.

"Is it possible to contact one of these few?"

"I believe they have all died in the last decade or so."

"Then how about using the Sands of Sanctity? Don't they heal everything?" Seth said hopefully.

Vanessa shook her head. "You know that I care for Kendra as much as any of you do, but we can't afford to get the artifact again now that it has been hidden for the second time. More lives would be at stake if the Sands were stolen, especially now that someone is targeting Fablehaven."

Seth groaned, but had to agree. He faced Tanu. "How much time does she have?"

"Originally, she would have about a few minutes to live. However, I do have a potion that can delay the poison from spreading, and she won't be in any pain, just numbness. That would give her about an hour or two to live. There is an alternative. I have a few magic relics that I store for emergencies, which in this case, it is. If I give it to Kendra, then the poison will slow down more, but she will be sleeping. I'm not sure if she will feel any pain in her sleep."

Seth stood up. "Sleep? That wouldn't be too bad, right? It would give us more time to find an antidote."

Tanu didn't look at him. "Well, yes. But there is a bad side to this. We still have a deadline. Sure, the deadline is longer, a week or so. But if we cannot find the antidote before the deadline, then she will either die in her sleep, or sleep eternally. At that time it depends on Kendra's condition and the effects of the poison."

"But isn't it still better than the first potion? The deadline is longer—"

"But you won't be able to exchange last words with Kendra. The first potion would keep Kendra awake and you can talk to her in her last hour. If Kendra was sleeping, there is no guarantee that she will hear you. Additionally, we won't know her conditions and how she feels—is she in pain, can we help her in any way? Absolutely no communication. There is no actual sure time when the relic will stop working; she could go at any minute."

Stan thought. "We don't have much time. It's time to choose what we will give to Kendra. The potion or the relic?"

Kendra had heard everything. She slowly opened her eyes and watched their faces. Her whole body ached and her arm now felt like lead. She could barely lift it. For a moment she forgot all about the pain and talked to them. "I trust you guys to find it…the antidote. And to make the decision on what to give me. And even if you guys don't find it then, it's—" She screamed out in pain, but then took a deep breath. "It's fine. I'd understand. I just want to make that clear."

Bracken rubbed her right arm and knelt by her head. He smoothed her hair down and didn't look anywhere, but at Kendra. "Don't say that."

"What about giving her both?" Warren cut in.

"We don't know what affect it can have on her. The magic relic is very strong and works for poisons as dangerous as these. If we give her too much she could reach her limit and just die because of overdose. Magical medicines are just like regular medications; you could have an overdose if you take too much. We could take the risk—"

"No!" Seth said loudly. "We aren't going to risk anything."

"Giving her the potion or the relic is a risk all the same."

Kendra had a small spasm and her face contorted. "It hurts! The poison's at my shoulder. Hnn…please…!"

Hank faced all of them. "Relic or potion?"

"I say we give the relic. It's more likely she won't be in pain if she's sleeping," Bracken stood up. "It'd be worse for everyone if we only have a few hours. We wouldn't have had any time. It's now or never. And I think the relic would increase our chances of curing her. I'm willing to take the risk if it would help Kendra stay alive, even if it's only a few days."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Ruth turned to Tanu. "Get the relics."

*.*.*.*

"Kendra, hang in there. Don't give up just yet. We chose the relic," Bracken said. He moved back her bangs so they didn't cover her face. Kendra eyes darted around frantically, and her muscled tensed up. She forced her eyelids to stay up.

"I…heard," she gasped. It seems like someone had shoved handfuls of dust and cotton don her throat. She could barely speak. Or even move for that matter.

"Tanu's preparing the relic and it's almost done. He put it in a special goblet with other potions and ingredients. When he comes, it's gonna hurt a bit when you drink it."

"Hurt?" She cringed at the word.

"Yes, but it will help you. I know you can face it. It'll be fine. _You'll_ be fine." Bracken voice cracked at the end.

"I know," Kendra whispered. "Because you said so."

"Yeah…" He kissed her forehead. A single tear slid onto her forehead.

Seth walked into the room. "Tanu's coming with the relic potion…" He approached Kendra and sat by her bed. "Fight hard, Kendra. We're gonna cure you."

She smiled in return. "What…else do you think I've been…doing?" She gave a weak chuckle before gripping the bed sheets.

Tanu and the rest entered the room. Tanu was holding a clear glass goblet filled with amber colored liquid. Steam rose from the top and wisped into the air. He spoke in a low voice, "Kendra, are you alright with going into a sleep? You can choose not to do this…although I think this is the best path to take."

"I…agree with whatever…ugh!...choice they make." She managed to say in between tight gasps.

Tanu nodded and raised the goblet to her mouth. "You have to drink all of it, okay? If you don't, this won't work. And we don't have time to do this again."

He lifted the goblet to her lips and slightly tilted it. Kendra swallowed it slowly, and the minute it touched her throat, it burned and scratched up her throat. But she knew she couldn't stop now. She reluctantly finished the whole relic potion, down to the last drop. Her fists were clenched the whole time, and her eyes squeezed shut.

The pain in her whole body miraculously dyed down, but her body felt numb. The only thing she could feel in her left arm was a throbbing of the delayed poison. Kendra could feel her thoughts clouding up and unconsciousness began to overwhelm her.

But just before sleep took over, she managed to slip out a couple of words, "Thank you…."

And her eyes finally closed shut.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review and continue reading to see what will happen next!<strong>

**Will Kendra be cured or will she be pulled into eternal sleep?**

**Next chapter will be updated soon!**

—**aznbooklover **


	6. Sphinx

**A/N: Sorry updating took a while…I started another chapter but it got deleted! So I had to retype it! Hope you like this chapter XD And I just found out that Gloria is the name of Kendra and Seth's other grandma (Grandma Larsen)…**

**Preview:**

_But just before sleep took over, she managed to slip out a couple of words, "Thank you…."_

_And her eyes finally closed shut._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Bracken gave Kendra's hand a finally squeeze before he felt it go limp. She had entered eternal sleep.

He reached over and kissed her forehead a final time. "Let's go," he said standing up. Ruth stopped him from walking towards the door.

"No," she said. "You can't go out yet in this condition of yours."

"I'm fine. Kendra's the one who needs help. And the sooner the better."

"Yeah! The Cytrions are nothing compared to what we have to do! And we're losing time every moment that we just stand here," Seth shouted.

Hank shook his head. "We won't be able to look for the antidote accurately if we aren't even ready. All I ask is a few hours. A few hours for you to get your strength back and time for Stan and I to update the Knights of the Dawn on this evening's events."

"And Seth, if you don't get your knee bandaged up, I'm not letting you go at all," Ruth warned him.

Seth looked down at his knee and saw it cut and bruised. He hadn't noticed it all because of Kendra. "Fine, but right before dawn, we're leaving."

*.*.*.*

"Seth, wake up, its dawn." Bracken shook him awake gently.

Seth opened his eyes. "What are you talking about? I've been awake for the last hour." He glanced across the attic room to Kendra's bed where she was still sleeping. "No reaction at all?"

Bracken turned his head towards her bed and shook his head. "Nothing. All the more reason to start."

Seth and Bracken made their way downstairs where Warren, Vanessa, Stan, Ruth, and Hank were waiting. Warren and Vanessa both had weapons strapped onto their backs and legs.

"Seth, wear this vest. It has just-in-case bombs, darts, and potions," Vanessa prodded him. "Here are a few daggers for your ankle sheaths. A sword sheath, with the sword, of course, and a small backpack for any extra things you want to bring."

"This vest is heavy," he complained.

"Well, everyone else who's coming is wearing one." Warren gestured to his own vest and Bracken's.

"By the way, where are we heading first?" Seth asked. "We have to have a plan or we are going to just waste our time here."

Bracken flipped a long silver sword in his hand. "As much as I don't trust him, we should head for the Sphinx. He knows about a lot of rare plants and magical items that were thought as legends or never heard of. We'll go to his new mansion that he built in the Living Mirage."

"Right," Warren said. "Let's go."

"The best of luck to all of you. I hope you are successful. I want to inform you beforehand that Trask and Elise or any other Knights of Dawn might suddenly come aid you in the middle of your quest. They are dealing with other matters at the moment, but will probably come to help," Stan said. Ruth and Hank agreed with them and said their own goodbyes.

Seth turned back to them before leaving. "I didn't tell Mom, Dad, or Grandma Gloria that I'm leaving…or that Kendra—"

Hank put his hand on his arm. "It's alright; I've contacted them. Your mother was reluctant to let you go on the mission at first, but they understand. They give you their love and luck from their cruise. We asked if they were planning on coming back to Fablehaven to stay with Kendra, but the reply must have been delayed."

"Thanks." Seth walked back to the door and the rest of them were just about to leave when a voice called them back.

"I'm coming." Gavin stepped out from the shadows. "No matter what you think of me, I'm coming."

Bracken approached him. "Why do you want to come? To sabotage our mission to help Kendra?"

Gavin scowled and glared at him. "Unicorn, I honestly don't care anymore if I gain _your_ trust. You'll probably never trust me anyway. But don't _ever _think that I want Kendra to die. I'm here to help you guys and her. You never know if you meet a dragon or someone that I'm acquainted with or need extra hands…or claws."

"But seriously, why are you doing this? Just to gain our trust? Her trust?"

"I owe this to Kendra. I'm doing my best to pay back for all the bad things I did to her in Lost Mesa and Wyrmroost. All I want to do is help," Gavin said. "I would try by myself to find the cure, but I know I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm asking permission to come along with you."

Warren turned to Vanessa and Seth. "He has a point, and a decent motive to want to aid her…and he could be an advantage for us. I say we let him in, but we keep an eye on him anyway."

Vanessa and Seth nodded. Bracken's face tightened but agreed with them. "Fine, but don't think this means we trust you. At all."

Gavin nodded in understanding and quickly strapped on his own weapons.

"Before we go, I'm saying my last good-bye to Kendra…" Bracken said. Seth went with him.

He quietly opened the attic room's door and walked in. He kneeled next to her bed and grasped her hand. Seth held her other one.

"Kendra, we're going on another mission. You're probably jealous…like I was when you went to Wyrmroost without me. But you can't come one this one...because we're going to be the one helping you this time. So just wait here for us okay? It won't take long, I promise." Seth rubbed her arm and gave to a hug. "'Bye, sis. We'll come back. Don't you worry about that."

He left the room with teary eyes to let Bracken talk alone with Kendra.

Bracken stared at her face for a few moments before speaking. "I don't know if you can hear me or if you know I'm here, but I just hope that you can." Pause. "No matter what happens out there…if we find the antidote or not…I just want you to know that I really do love you. Don't leave me this soon. I've lived for centuries, and it was probably because fate was getting me ready to meet you. Don't make me have to wait for another someone like you—no, there won't be anyone like you. Ever. So don't give up while I'm going. Keep fighting…and that'll be the one thing that keeps me fighting." He kissed her forehead and cheeks, and his lips lingered there for a long moment before he pulled back. He held onto her hand and gave it a last squeeze.

Turning away he got up and quietly closed the door. Everyone watched him as he climbed downstairs. "I'm ready."

With last waves, they left Fablehaven.

*.*.*.*

Everyone jumped down from the jeep and looked around.

"We're here," Warren announced. "His mansion should be just down that rock path if our informant was telling the truth."

"And our informant was…"

"The Sphinx himself."

"Ah."

In the end he did tell the truth. Around the rock path was a giant creamy white mansion with a dark brown roof along with a white picket fence around it. It was half covered and surrounded by tall trees and lively flowers.

"Wowww…" Seth said in total awe. "It's huge. Does he still have the dungeons underneath?"

"Probably. The house is new—it was made only a few months back—but the underground is most likely the same since the new mansion's in the same place as before."

Bracken stepped up to the picket fence and tried to push his hand to the other side of the gate. An invisible force didn't let him. His hand was laid flat in midair. He pressed his other hand against it.

"Bracken, you do miming?" Seth asked in confusion.

"The Sphinx put up magical force fields around the mansion. Clever. We'll enter through the front door, but I think we have to get permission since we didn't call him beforehand."

They walked to a tall silver gate where there was a small screen and a button keypad. Bracken pressed a green button and the screen lit up. He then pressed a white button with a phone print and held it.

"Sphinx, it's us, from Fablehaven. Permission to enter for Warren, Vanessa, Seth, Gavin, and I."

Suddenly the Sphinx's face appeared on the screen. "Yes, yes. Stan called just a few hours back or so. Come in." The gate creepily swung open and they walked inside. As they reached the front steps they knocked. The big glass door opened.

"Quickly please. I hear we shouldn't delay." The Sphinx's voice came from upstairs where he was slowly descending.

The interior of the mansion contained two long staircases to their left was a hallway that opened up into a big spacious room with couches and hanging curtains. Up ahead was a door as large as the front's with a curly design carved on it and a smaller door right beside it. To the right were a few doors and hallway that had a vague ending. Upstairs showed other hallways and what seemed to be a few meeting rooms made of thick glass. To top it all off the floors were made of polished marble with mosaic designs and rugs, and the ceilings contained a giant painting of the Living Mirage and a glass chandelier hung down from the middle.

"Geez…how's our main house back in Fablehaven supposed to compete with this?" Seth almost wandered into a hallway but was pulled back by Vanessa.

"How indeed! I would like your feedback on the new technology I included out front and if you look in some of the upstairs rooms there's other devices I sure aren't seen anywhere else. The satyrs—"

"I'm sorry for being rude, but would it be alright if we go straight to business? This is an urgent matter and I'm afraid we don't have the time for small talk," Bracken cut in.

"Ah, yes. Up the stairs, please, into one of my soundproof rooms." The Sphinx walked back up the stairs and opened one of the glass doors for them to file into.

They all took a seat around a beautifully carved table and plush seats.

"What can I help you with?" The Sphinx leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs.

They told him the whole story and the past events. The whole time the Sphinx said nothing and only nodded his head a few times.

"So would you happen to have any knowledge concerning the antidote?" Warren asked.

He laced his fingers together. "I'm afraid not. However, there are a few people I know who could assist you…some are in hiding, and some are close. They are people who know of many rare things, legends, unheard of magical items, and some…just wise words."

Vanessa raised his eyebrows. "Wise words?"

He laughed. "You make it sound as if I am just a fool who thinks that words will heal a problem like this."

"Are you not?" Gavin said smugly.

The corner of the Sphinx's eyes twitched, but then he pulled on an amused face. "Oh, I didn't see you there. Gavin Rose…or should I say Navarog? I remember years ago I helped you sneak out of the Quiet Box and outside of Fablehaven…"

"You know the truth about that, Sphinx," Gavin said gruffly.

"Sphinx, please give us the information that can help us find these people," Warren said. "After this we'll go."

"And what will I get?" he asked.

Vanessa sighed. "Fablehaven and the Sorenson family will owe you greatly. Right now we have nothing to offer, yet if ever in the future you will need something, we'll see what we can do. However, keep in mind that we won't be doing favors that will concern the innocent lives of creatures, people, or of Fablehaven itself."

He nodded. "Good enough. Firstly, there are twins named Udna and Urgel who live in a small hidden hut on the outskirts of Lost Mesa. Be careful, there are a few distracter spells. Kendra would be useful, but, you know. They are blind but know many things that they inherited from the generations before them. And they also have lived for many, many years."

Gavin snickered. "Older than Unicorn here?" he asked under his breath.

"Yes, in fact." Gavin snapped his head up. The Sphinx laughed. "To continue on, there is an ancient, yet magical, lady, if that is what she indeed is, going by the name of Silvertongue. She is known to be the Giver of All Needs, when she wants to. There are some obstacles that you will have to face however in your encounter. She dwells in a place that is anywhere, yet nowhere. This place is called Evolot."

"Which is it?"

"I am unsure. It is said that Evolot is in the places that we aren't. I interpret that as the places we do not occupy. For example, we take up the spaces in our chairs, but in the air in front of us, we aren't there. As we move, that world is flexible and again takes up the spaces we leave open. Think of it as a parallel universe. Or should I say, world. It's impossible to touch on our Earth plane, but apparently there is an entrance from here to there."

"Makes sense," Bracken said thoughtfully.

"Yes. But it is only a theory. Legend has it that the only people who hold the key to the secret are the ones in the most need."

"How do you know this?"

"The one who told me was a survivor."

Seth looked appalled. "_Survivor_? Did he escape death, or something?"

The Sphinx shook his head. "No, no. That was a bad word choice. There was a handful that was given the secret to Evolot's location. And so they went there, if they were able to. After their needs were fulfilled, they were tempted."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Tempted with what?"

"It depends. A poor man might have been tempted with fame or wealth. A lonely woman might be tempted with a spouse or a companion."

"What would be wrong with taking the temptation?" Gavin wondered.

"You would have to stay in Evolot for the rest of your life. It may seem like Heaven, but apparently my source told me that eventually everyone regretted the choice they made. They missed things back in our world, or the world they were from, and they realized that in the past they took the things they had for granted. Of course, most of her 'victims' weren't told that it was required to stay in Evolot beforehand."

The Sphinx laughed at all the skeptical faces before him. "Okay, let's say the poor man gave in to his wealth temptation. For a while, yes, he would probably be the luckiest man in the world. But in Evolot, there's always going to be something missing. What if the man's only company in his world was a dog? Evolot might've taken the dog away. Before, he was poor but he wasn't lonely or sad, really. If you compared the two worlds, don't emotions win over materials?"

Everyone thought it over. It was true. Wealth couldn't take the place of a person, no matter what the mind might make us believe.

"Okay, back on track. So your source was someone who didn't take the temptation?"

"Oh,no. He did. But he managed to come back somehow. He refused to give many details."

"Where is he now?"

"Dead. Killed by someone who wanted the information." Everyone gave him suspicious stares. "That someone wasn't me, I assure you. His stories were payment for my hospitality. He was killed a year or two later. By who? I don't know. For sure, it wasn't one of my men."

They relaxed.

The Sphinx continued. "He also told me a piece of information that might help you find it. The handful of people that were given the secret to Evolot's place was the people who needed it the most."

Seth furrowed his eyebrows. "So people in the greatest need can find Evolot. As in knowledge to where it is! We need the antidote, so shouldn't we have been 'gifted' with knowledge of where it is?"

"That's not my question to answer. It does bewilder me on why you haven't been 'invited' to Evolot and have been spoken to by Silvertongue."

"Anything you know about Silvertongue herself?"

"It's said that she might not even be a female, or a human. She's believed to have multiple forms and it might be one you know. I think she's been here in this universe for the longest time, longer than any existence has been created. No one knows how to kill Silvertongue, but who would want to try? There's no reward for killing her."

"Still seems vague to me," Gavin said.

Bracken stood up. "I say we go to Udna and Urgel first, since we can pinpoint where they are. Yes, it'll take a while to get to Lost Mesa, but it'll be faster to get there than trying to find out where Evolot is. We all know we have limited time."

Everyone agreed and went back down to the front door. It swung open as they neared it.

"Thank you, Sphinx, for your aid and information. We now are indebted to you. We'll be on our way," Bracken thanked him. He shook his hand, as did everyone else.

They left Living Mirage and made their way to Lost Mesa, with hopes of finding the antidote to save Kendra.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the very long chapter but I hoped you liked it. Sorry, if it's not very romantic or anything, but with Kendra knocked out there's no love triangles going on. For now!**

**I hope you understood everything the Sphinx said…its getting a bit scientific here**

**And a question for the readers: Should I add in another boy as Kendra's love interest? Please review or PM me your answers. Or if you have any other ideas as new characters for me to create I'd like to hear them!**

—**aznbooklover **


	7. Spells

**A/N: Thanks for all the answers to my question from last chapter! I still added new characters and I hope they're not too much of a bother!**

**Preview:**

"_Thank you, Sphinx, for your aid and information. We now are indebted to you. We'll be on our way," Bracken thanked him. He shook his hand, as did everyone else._

_They left Living Mirage and made their way to Lost Mesa, with hopes of finding the antidote to save Kendra._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

The jeep rumbled over the rocky terrain and the inside of the jeep vibrated uncontrollably.

"You know…t-this is a-a-a b-bit rumbly-y isn't i-it?" Seth struggled to ask. His voice vibrated along with the jeep. No one bothered answering.

At last, the ground flattened out and they were able to talk normally. He turned to Gavin. "So this is where you and Kendra went that one time. It looks…flat," Seth noted.

"Well, it's mostly because Gavin here got a young dragon to destroy the town and pretty much everything left standing. And after the years, the wind flattened it all out," Bracken said, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, someone did their homework," Gavin retorted.

"Okay, stop it you guys. Back to business," Warren said at the wheel. "Tanu gave each of us two potions that can help us look past the distracter spells put around their home. I propose that only two of us will use them, so that we don't waste all the potions. Who's up for it?"

Vanessa and Bracken both volunteered. "Okay. Right now, we're nearing the outskirts of Lost Mesa. Take your potions and look around. I'll drive more slowly."

They both gulped down their potions and watched carefully as they drove past.

"Anything?"

"Nothing."

For a while they kept driving until Seth told them to stop.

"Seth, did you see something? But you didn't take the potion."

"Uh no, I didn't see anything, I _noticed_ something," Seth said. "We're going in circles."

Warren shook his head. "That's not possible we haven't turned once, except when we got off the rocky road."

"I know that, but for the fourth time the seat where I'm sitting in raised a little. You drove over the same exact same rock for four times. I started checking the second time around."

Warren sighed. "That seems pretty vague…There's only one way to know for sure. Gavin, if you don't mind, could you…transform into a dragon?"

Gavin crossed his arms. "What? Why?"

Bracken scowled. "You can fly can't you? If you look at our jeep from above you could have a clear view for sure if we're going in circles."

"Fine. But I'd rather not have anyone stare at me while I'm transforming. There's nothing to hide behind. So don't look. Especially you, Unicorn." Gavin hopped out of the jeep and walked a long distance away from them.

"Okay, you heard him. No looking," Warren turned to them and avoided looking at the dark figure in the distance. "We'll have to distract ourselves for now."

"So…" Seth turned to all of them and looked them in the face. He stopped when he reached Warren. "How about a game of twenty questions? Warren, have you ever thought of marrying soon? What are you now, 25 or so?"

Warren pulled a shocked face. "What?"

"You said to distract ourselves. Pretty good distraction huh?" Seth said proudly.

"No! But fine…I might in a year or so. Good enough for you?" Warren blushed red and looked out the car. But not at Gavin of course.

Vanessa said nothing.

"A year…not so bad. Vanessa's gonna be the lucky woman I'm guessing—"

"This game is officially over."

"Why? But you have to admit. That was fun." Seth laughed. "Truth or dare is next on the list. Who's first?"

He was cut short by a big gust of wind a flapping sounding. When they looked up, the familiar black dragon was hovering in mid-air.

Warren waved over to him, using his whole arm. Gavin nodded his head in response. Warren called up to him, "I'm gonna drive! Just watch us until we stop!"

He geared the jeep into drive and drove. And drove. After about 15 minutes, and Seth felt the rock under the wheel three times, Warren stopped. "Okay, everyone look away from him while he turns back. And this time we won't need any distractions. Just don't look."

Seth grumbled in his seat the whole time. After a few minutes, Gavin stalked over to the jeep. "What'd you guys do to Seth?"

"Nothing, he's just sulking. So what happened?"

"It's true we're going in circles, to the left. There's a force that's only slightly moving the jeep farther and farther away from where we want to go. This isn't a matter of distracter spells. It's more like a repelling spell."

Bracken nodded. "Sounds about right. But do we have anything that can cut through repelling spells?"

Vanessa suddenly pulled her sword out of her sheath. "We have incoming! Behind us."

Everyone whipped their bodies to face the thing racing towards them, with sand flying behind. The five of them took out their weapons and positioned themselves to fight. As the thing came closer, they noticed it was a jeep similar to theirs. After a while, Bracken could make out who the people inside were. "Guys, stop. It's the Knights of the Dawn that Stan told us might come."

"Yes, it looks like Trask in the driver seat. But how do we know that it's really them? Could be a stingbulb or someone controlled by a narcoblix."

"Right."

The car screeched to a halt and a cloud of dust swept over them. By the time the sands settled, everyone in the other jeep had gotten out. Trask—if it really was him—stuck out a hand towards Warren. Warren didn't take it.

"Identify yourself!" Warren held the sword by his neck.

"Trask, Knight of the Dawn. We worked together ever since Kendra Sorenson was kidnapped by the Sphinx and Torina Barker, which was a bit over two years ago. It was believed that she had originally died because of a stingbulb, which, have no worries, I am not."

"You can't prove it, can you?"

Trask shook his head. "No, I can't. But this is my Knight of the Dawn ID card, which if you check, isn't fake." He held out a thin silver card to Vanessa.

She took it and looked it over. "Hmm one of Stan's new ID cards that he made for the Knights of the Dawn. It's not a fake. It has the code and the design on it."

Seth walked over to it. "What new ID cards?"

"Stan gave these out to the Knights of Dawn. They are usually called KOD's for short. They're magical and glows red if the owner is a traitor or controlled by a different force. They can't be copied or easily replaced because of the code and a magical design on it. Only one, the creator of the cards, can make that specific design, who is also one of the first and most trusted Knights. And these cards can't be taken or touched by anyone other than another loyal Knight of the Dawn."

"Why don't I have one?"

Vanessa smirked at him. "You don't need one."

Meanwhile, Warren and everyone else had already shaken hands. "Sorry 'bout that," Warren apologized.

"No, it's alright. I've been doing much of that this week. Let me introduce you to the others. First we have Elise, who Seth should remember. She was one of your temporary guardians a few years back."

A woman who looked very familiar to Seth stepped forward and shook their hands. Elise looked like someone who could be trusted, yet took her job very seriously.

"This is Victor, the twin brother of Vincent, whom Bracken should remember from when you went to the Obsidian Waste." Trask gestured to a Filipino man who looked somewhat similar to Vincent yet not identical. He gave a small smile and tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"And someone that Vanessa might know—her cousin, Dana." A girl who looked a bit older than Seth walked in front of the rest of the group. She shook everyone's hand, but when she reached Vanessa, she got yelled at.

"Dana, what are you doing here? What happened to your face? Even though you're only—"

"Seventeen?"

"Wha—"

Dana covered her mouth and led her paces away. She whispered something in her ear. Vanessa looked shocked. Dana whispered again. Vanessa looked at her and shook her head madly. Dana had a look of triumph on her face. When they walked back, Vanessa sighed.

"Everything alright?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"Okay then. So what are we doing here?" Trask asked.

"We're looking for the legendary twins Udna and Urgel. Their hut or whatever they live in should be around here somewhere. We thought at first that they had distracter spells around the area, but after a bit of driving we learned they have a repelling spell instead. And we don't have anything here that can help us get through it," Bracken filled in.

Victor stepped forward and swung his backpack so that it was hung in front of his stomach. "Well, I do. I specialize in making magical devices or inventions that can cut through spells or magical forces."

Seth's face lit up. "Do you happen to have a device or something that can take a rare poison out of a person's body?"

Victor chuckled sadly. "If I did, we wouldn't be here would we? But I haven't stopped trying." He pulled out a few spray cans and tossed one to Warren. "Spray it around the area. It's kind of like a x-ray liquid; it helps you see through an outer skin—which in this case is the barrier of the spell—to see what's hidden inside. It also neutralizes the barrier, so we could step through it, but only for a moment." He pulled out more cans and gave one to everyone.

Soon everyone was walking and spraying. They had seen nothing for a while until Elise called out. "I see something! There's something kind of big thing in the distance that you can see only where I sprayed. The twins put the barrier very far away from their home."

They all ran over to Elise and sprayed around the area. Just moments later they had a nice big window through the barrier. "We have to step through before the spray stops neutralizing it. I have to warn that when you step towards it there will be a pushing feeling, but if you push back you will get through," Victor instructed.

Seth volunteered to be the first one to go through. He quickly tried stepping towards the wall but it pushed him, hard. "What the heck?" He took a different approach and distanced himself a little…right before charging headfirst through the wall. At first he hit his head but then his whole body was allowed through. Once he tumbled to the other side, he sat down and cradled his head.

Next Warren and Vanessa stepped through with only a short hesitance.

Seth looked up at them. "How did you get through so easily?"

"We didn't charge the wall," Vanessa answered. "We took a _slower_ method."

Seth groaned. He stood up once everyone else had gathered on his side of the barrier.

Trask gestured for them to move onward. "Let's go. That was probably the easy part."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you again for all your answers!<strong>

**I added new characters and included some old ones. If any of them don't fit in or bother you, please review it or PM me! **

**Any other suggestions for characters or anything else for the story would be appreciated!**

**Thanks XD**

—**aznbooklover **


	8. Dana's Secret

**A/N: Started writing this just after finishing chap 7! **

**Preview:**

_Seth groaned. He stood up once everyone else had gathered on his side of the barrier._

_Trask gestured for them to move onward. "Let's go. That was probably the easy part."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<br>**

They started hiking towards the dark figure in the distance. But what Trask said was true. The barrier was probably one of the easiest parts. As they were hiking, the weather got hotter and humid.

"Just a few minutes ago, the weather was fine! What is this?" Dana said grudgingly.

"Trask told us this wasn't gonna be any easier," Seth replied, trudging along next to her. "And I just wanted to ask you…you don't happen to bite people in their sleep and control them like your cousin…do you?"

"Let me get this straight. We're hiking through a territory we know barely anything about, and it's really hot, and a monster can pop up any time or something, and you're more concerned about me biting you?"

Seth looked forward. "Yeah well…"

Dana just laughed. "But to answer your question, no, I'm not like Vanessa. Honestly I have no special powers or anything. But I have good training in defense and potions. I'm not as good as Tanu, but I'm his apprentice."

"Uh huh. But you could be a traitor and is just lying to me," Seth argued. "You didn't show your KOD."

"What about you? How come you don't have one?" she replied back.

"Vanessa said I don't need one, but I think it's just because I'm too young."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen. How old are you?"

"Fif—seventeen." Dana answered quickly.

Seth snapped his face to stare at her. "You're really fifteen aren't you? Vanessa was going to say that earlier, but you said something to her. No, you bribed her!"

Dana covered his mouth with her hand. "Shh! Keep your voice down! Okay, okay. I lied. And yes, I bribed Vanessa with one of her secrets that I know so that she wouldn't tell anyone."

Seth pulled her hand away and whispered. "Aha! That also explains why you don't have a KOD; you're too young like me to have one. And what was Vanessa's secret anyway?"

"I'm not telling you that!" she yelled.

"Who's being loud now? Answer me this, how do you make yourself look older?" He crossed his arms.

"An age potion. I used one of Tanu's potion books and made it myself. Just don't tell anyone."

"Why are you doing this? To get a KOD?"

Dana smirked. "You seriously think that I did this for an _identification card_? No. Anyway, pretty much everyone in the Knight knows my real age and it gets inputted into the KOD. Anyone under 18 won't be able to activate a card. I have other reasons. And they don't concern you."

Seth wasn't able to say anything else because Warren called everyone to gather around. "Okay…It's obvious that there's another spell or somewhat that's making this heat so…unbearable. For now we'll rest, even if it's only for a few hours. We have to make plans for what we can do…and what we're going to do," Warren managed to say before wiping his brow of sweat.

Warren, Vanessa, Bracken, Trask, Victor, and Elise sat down in a circle and discussed the plans. When Seth looked around his eyes found Dana who was sitting cross-legged and fiddling with her small pouch that she wore around her neck.

Seth found this the perfect time to ask for Dana's reasons. He walked over to her. "Dana." She didn't look at him. "Hey!"

He then noticed that she wasn't paying any attention to him because she was looking at something. No, _someone_?

"NO. WAY. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Dana gave a yelp of terror and finally noticed Seth standing right next to her. For a small moment everyone else glanced over to them, but soon returned to what they were originally doing.

"What the—what is wrong with you?" she shrieked. "Why are you laughing?"

"Come over here." He pulled her to the side and laughed more.

"Excuse me! Seth!" She said annoyed. "Did I have something on my face or something? That's really mean if—"

"Your reason for taking that age potion and pretending you're seventeen is because you like _Gavin_?"

She looked horrified. "How did you…no."

"It was so obvious. I practically screamed your name and I was standing right next to you. And when I look to where you're looking—sorry, _staring_—it's right at Gavin," he snickered.

"Fine you win. Just don't tell anyone alright? Do you want the age potion too? I'll give you anything."

"No thanks. It's actually pretty good that you like him so that if he ever likes you back, then he'll back off from my sister. I won't tell anyone. But one of these days you're gonna owe me."

*.*.*.*

"Since we can't go on with this weather…we had to find another way to get through the terrain," Warren said. So we have another request for Gavin. If you would…could you transform again and carry the two jeeps with you? I know this is too much—"

"No I'll do it. It's not a problem." He got up and walked over to Warren. "The only problem is how I'm supposed to get through the barrier."

Victor stepped forward. "Done. I quickly constructed a mechanism that allows you to throw the spray instead of having to use the spray can. Just hold it in your hand, claw, whatever and if you throw it, it will create a bomb-like effect that will open a window for you to go through."

Gavin soon got to work and transformed…of course, with no one looking.

*.*.*.*

"Stan!" Ruth called running down the stairs. "Stan!"

He hurriedly got up from the table and clanked his mug down. "What is it?"

"Come quickly!" She raced back up the stairs with Stan right on her heels. She bustled through the door to the attic room.

Kendra was sweating. A lot. Her fists were clenched, and her face tight. A dark vein had grown on her left arm in place of the previous burn.

"The poison is starting to take effect. It's moving very slowly…but that doesn't mean it's stopped. The vein is a marking of its path."

"A dark vein? But it's only been a bit over two days!"

"Yes, and we only have a week. Maybe less, maybe more. We can't put a measure on her lifeline."

Ruth caressed her face. "Why is she in pain?"

"I don't know. It might be because of the poison, or maybe she's not in pain at all. The poison or she might be causing bad dreams."

"Bad dreams…we can't do anything to help them then? Nothing at all?"

Stan looked at Kendra's pained expression. "Not us. Only the ones who have gone to find the antidote have the power to stop her pain. I just hope they will make it in time to do so."

* * *

><p><strong>That's all for this time! And we know that Gavin has his own love interest!<strong>

**Review ideas, comments, etc.**

—**aznbooklover **


	9. Udna and Urgel

**A/N: Another chapter for you!**

**Preview:**

"_Bad dreams…we can't do anything to help them then? Nothing at all?"_

_Stan looked at Kendra's pained expression. "Not us. Only the ones who have gone to find the antidote have the power to stop her pain. I just hope they will make it in time to do so."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

_She was sitting in a very dark place. She had ever since she had closed her eyes after drinking that relic potion. She knew that she was somewhere in the very back of her mind where she couldn't control her physical body. This wasn't a dream, she knew. Because she had heard voices._

_She had been sitting in that dark place for a while. Time didn't exist here. But then Seth's voice was all around her. It talked about how she would be jealous that he was going on a mission without her. She laughed out loud when she heard that. It sounded really loud. But then the voice told her to wait…and that he and everyone else would be back soon. _

_Then he rubbed her arm. Her little body sitting in the back of her mind felt it. It was as if an invisible being had touched her. She raised her arm as if to hold the hand, but her hand touched only her own skin. But then she felt that invisible force _hug _her. It was Seth._

_She wanted to hug him back, even though she knew he would hate it. Or would he? But she wouldn't be able to. It would be like hugging a ghost. Impossible. "Seth…" she said. Somehow, even though she hadn't sensed him coming, she sensed him leaving. His presence was gone._

_Then there came another voice. Bracken's. _

"_I don't know if you can hear me or if you know I'm here, but I just hope that you can." Yes she could hear him! But it would be no use saying she did out loud because he wouldn't hear her voice like she could his. _

"_No matter what happens out there…if we find the antidote or not…I just want you to know that I really do love you. Don't leave me this soon. I've lived for centuries, and it was probably because fate was getting me ready to meet you. Don't make me have to wait for another someone like you—no, there won't be anyone like you. Ever. So don't give up while I'm going. Keep fighting…and that'll be the one thing that keeps me fighting."_

_She didn't cry. She just sat there, struck with shock. In all those two years ever since they've been together in Fablehaven he never said 'I love you' to her face. Now that he did she wasn't even able to answer him. At all. But she didn't cry. She just sat in her dark little place._

_He kissed her forehead for a while. And he squeezed her hand. And left._

_Time passed. How much? Who knew? _

_Then the darkness closed around her. It hurt. It all seemed to be aimed at her shoulder. It was if fire was rushing up and down her left arm. She screamed and screamed. But even she could barely hear it. She shut her eyes hoping it would go away._

_But shutting her eyes made it worse. Because when she opened them, the visions started._

_*.*.*.*_

They had the jeeps now. When Gavin had dropped the two jeeps in front of him, Dana had pulled on Seth's arm. Which Seth, of course, rolled his eyes at.

Now they were driving and on their way towards the hut, which was steady coming closer every minute that they were driving. But once they were about a hundred yards away from their destination, Bracken yelled out, "Watch out!"

Both cars tried their best to stop but the sand swept their jeeps straight on to the spikes protruding from the ground. They were around three inches tall and made purely of silver. After a few moments they slowly descended back into their resting spot and sand covered them.

"What the heck?" Warren leaped down from his driver's seat and inspected all the tires. "Three out of four punctured."

"All four gone on ours," Trask said gravely. "We have no choice but to go on foot."

So once again they trekked across the sand. Without warning, the sand in front of them moved on its own and started making a small hill.

"What is happening?" Victor asked. They all stepped back cautiously and took out their weapons.

"Get ready," Elise said swinging two swords in both hands so fast so that they were like propellers.

The hill of sand grew larger and larger until it was like a mountain. Just as suddenly as it had started, the tower of sand shook itself, spraying sand everywhere.

"I got sand in my eyes!" Seth yelled out. He shook his head madly to get the sand out of his hair and face. When he was finally able to open his eyes, they bulged wide. "Whoa."

Right in front of them, with sand still streaming from the sides, was a giant demon somewhere around 15 to 20 feet tall. It looked like a hybrid between a centipede and a scorpion. Its legs were fat and had at least ten of them. Its body was covered in rusty copper plates all around and even parts of its head. Two black eyes rested in front of its head and two striped antennae swung madly around as its body moved.

"What is it?" Gavin asked, not taking his eyes off it.

"I think it's a Scorpede. It's not a demon, only a magical creature," Vanessa explained in a slow voice. "They're mostly common in these areas. They usually have brown or tan scaly skin that is very tough, but not impossible to puncture."

Dana quickly glanced at her. "I don't know if you noticed, but it doesn't have scaly skin. It has more of a hard, smooth…armor."

"That's right. But if you look closely, when it moves, there's a slit where you can see brown scales. The armor isn't connected to its body—"

"—someone put it there," Trask finished for her. He wasn't able to say anything else because the Scorpede attacked.

It swung his body at them and they all fell backwards. Before they were able to get up, fire spit out from its mouth and rained down on them. Everyone was able to dodge except Seth. His ankle was burned and he yelled out in pain.

"Seth! Hold on," Dana called. She ran over to him and dragged him to safety. "Just stay here okay?" Then she ran off again.

"This Scorpede has had many upgrades," Elise grunted. "What kind of Scorpede breathes fire?"

"This one." Warren somersaulted away from a ball of fire that raced towards him. He threw one of his daggers at the Scorpede's body. The blade buried itself into one of the copper plates. With a turn of its body, the creature was able to fling away the dagger out of anyone's reach.

Then Warren noticed something. "Hey, the body's attached to the ground. I don't think it can come any more out of the ground. That's what its long body's for—to move around."

It then swung itself over to Gavin. Using its giant head, it attempted to knock him over. He fell over, not because of the Scorpede's head, but because he attempted to dodge it. He pulled another sword and was forced to make an X with both swords to block the antennae trying to reach his face.

Instead of using its head, it reached one of its legs towards him. Sharp claws sprung out and scratched Gavin in the shoulder. Gavin yelped in pain, but was able to cut off the leg before it made worse damage.

Bored with Gavin, he next targeted Dana, who had rejoined the fight. She pulled out a pair of sai, two trident-shaped daggers for each hand. She flipped them in her hands and got into a fighting position. She was able to hold them it off but only for a few minutes. Using its fire breath, it burned her sai, making it too hot to hold. She let go of them as soon as the fire touched them. Dana stumbled backwards and fell on her rear. "Help," she cried desperately. The Scorpede was approaching closer and closer.

Suddenly, a dagger came flying and fixed itself into its eye. The creature gave a roar of pain and recoiled backwards.

Dana reclaimed her already cooled down sai and looked back to the owner of the dagger. Seth stood there holding on to his ankle. He had bandaged it up, but still leaned most of his weight on his other leg.

Seth gave her a grin. "Now we're even."

She rolled her eyes at first, yet a smile escaped.

Meanwhile, the rest of them were struggling to defeat the Scorpede. "What do we do? The armor on its body is too hard to get through," Vanessa said. She threw one of her bombs from her vest, which resulted in it swinging from side to side as its face caught fire.

Bracken got an idea. "Right. We can't get beat the armor. It's too strong. If we can't go through the armor then—"

"—we go around it," Gavin said roughly. "For this we're gonna need a distraction. Or something that will cause the body to bend."

Trask caught on. "When it bends, the armor plates separate just a little bit in between, giving us a shot at its real skin, which we can puncture. Okay, here's the plan. Warren, Bracken, Gavin, and I will handle the Scorpede itself and making it bend long enough for Vanessa and Elise to stab it and kill it," he said hurriedly. The Scorpede was almost ready to get revenge. "Seth and Dana will be our second pair of eyes and the back-up plan. They will fill in for anyone injured or watch our backs."

They all agreed. Dana and Seth distanced themselves and waited. Vanessa and Elise got their swords ready. Gavin and Bracken ran over to the Scorpede and got its attention. "Hey! Over here!" Bracken waved his sword above his head.

Angrily, the Scorpede headed straight for Bracken. He fell back but rolled to the side before the beast's head could slam him down. Once the head was down on the ground, Gavin plunged a broadsword straight through its head. It gave a roar of pain and attempted to lift its head back up. Bracken had already gotten to his feet and skewered its head with his own swords.

While the head was down on the ground, the rest of its body was curved upwards and into an arch. Trask and Warren were presented with the job of getting rid of its sharp-clawed legs and making sure its body was staying in its arch.

Vanessa saw an open scaly spot to stab her sword through. Elise was busy herself with hacking at another slit. The Scorpede gave another big roar. Bracken silenced it with piercing it with a short dagger.

After much of this, the Scorpede unexpectedly slithered back into the sand, taking the swords sticking out of its head and body with it.

"It left?" Dana asked cautiously. No one else moved. They weren't taking any chances.

In the distance, a figure walked out the hut. Gavin gestured at them. "Look, they're coming."

The Udna and Urgel were Siamese twins, but more accurately, they were one person with two heads. They both had light gray-blue eyes and dark black hair. The girl head's hair was cut in a bob and the boy's was cut short and choppy. Their faces were both dark and scarred, but it was seen that they were once very attractive. They looked somewhere around their late 30's.

"The fight was starting to get boring so we told George to go back into his burrow to heal," Urgel said.

Everyone looked at each other. The twins weren't very welcoming.

Seth turned to them. "George? You mean the Scorpede?"

"Yes, he's our pet," Udna said mischievously. "Did you like him? He's quite friendly."

"Oh, uh sure…" Seth muttered uncomfortably. He felt that it wouldn't be good to get on their bad side.

"That's right. Getting on our bad side would be too bad," Urgel said with a snort. Seth gaped at them and blushed red.

"I hope the weather was okay coming in," Udna cackled.

"Oh, yes it was just great," Dana answered with a fake smile. She was beginning to hate the twins.

"Now, now. Hating us that quickly is a bit harsh, dear," Udna said. Dana narrowed her eyes and glared at her.

Warren cleared his throat. "We would like to ask for your guidance in—"

"Come inside." The twins started walking back to their hut without another word. Warren turned back to their group with a shocked expression. Before Warren could say anything, Seth covered his mouth. "Don't," he whispered. "They read minds or something."

"He's right, you know," Udna said without turning around.

Trask gestured for them to follow them. Without another word, they walked towards the hut. It was made out of lots and lots of wooden sticks bunched up together and tied into a point at the top. It looked…really small.

"How do we fit?" Elise asked.

The twins both snickered like little children sharing a secret before entering the hut. They all filed in one by one. Every time someone came in, there was a gasp. The interior of the hut was _huge_. It was a giant room with two luxurious sofas and a big table with shelves filled with artifacts and books lined the walls. Hallways were on every side of the room and lights hung down from the ceiling. The wooden floors were polished and antique rugs were on the floor. But it wasn't very neat. There were stacks of papers spread around, clothes tossed here and there, books spread around opened with bookmarks sticking out.

"It's big," Victor said in wonder.

"Of course. You thought we would live in a tiny little hut? That's just rumors we spread around. You should be honored to enter our lovely home."

"But don't you technically live in a hut? Did you look at your home from the outside?" Dana said smugly.

The twins ignored her completely. "As we were saying, not just any people have the honor to enter."

"Then why us?" Trask asked.

They smiled. "Because of whom some of you are. We have interesting people in this group. Let's start with Warren here. He's been catatonic for a few years before…his only connection to the real world during that time was through the fairykind. Then there's the young shadow charmer, who just happens to have a sister of the total opposite—of light. Then there's the Fairy Queen's son and the dragon prince, both fighting for the same things, for the same reasons."

"Both?" Vanessa said looking back between Bracken and Gavin.

"And then there's the narcoblix, one of the closest friends of the fairykind, yet was once a traitor. The rest of you will in one point in their lives be affected by the girl. I see that two of you have already met her and been concerned with the girl."

"How do you know all this?" Gavin asked.

"Now, why would we tell you that? But to ease your mind, let's just say that news and gossip has flown around the magic world for a while."

"But that's not the real reason how you know."

"Of course not," Urgel said bluntly. "What our point is, is that every single one of you has something to do with the fairykind girl…Kendra Sorenson. Now, don't ask me how I know her name or whatever…because you'll be wasting your time. I also know the reason why you're here, so there's no need to go through the details."

"Just to make sure, I'll put it in a nutshell," Udna insisted. "So the girl was hit by the rare poison of a Cytrion, mostly because she was stupid enough to not pay attention, and because none of the present people there were incapable of protecting her. Now she lies in her deathbed, _sleeping_, because of the relic you gave her, but that wasn't very smart I'm guessing…since she's in pain right now."

"What? Pain?" Seth shouted.

The twins crossed their one set of arms. "It's not worth dwelling on, you know. You can't really help her without the cure."

"Before anything else, I'd like to correct the way you explained the events of that one night—"

Warren wasn't able to finish, because he was interrupted, of course, by the twins. "Everyone has their perspective of things and we honestly don't want to hear yours. So back to business. In order for you to get all the information you need, we would like to bargain. There are three levels on which we bargain for—easy, medium, hard. The first level is the easiest way to regain Kendra, the second is only a bit harder, and the third…no one has ever got to. The bargains you give will be bigger priced as the level gets higher."

"Okay, we'll go for easy then," Trask answered looking at everyone for their agreement. They agreed. "What could we bargain?"

"Hmm…" the twins pondered. "We request all of your potions that you have brought with you. And I highly suggest that you don't try hiding any…because we'll know."

Warren gestured for them to take out their potions. Dana was appalled.

"_All _of them?" she yelped. What was going to happen to her age potions?

Seth saw her face…and wanted laugh. But at the same time he felt sorry for her. Although they had met only hours ago, she seemed like someone he could easily get along with. Yet what could he do? He needed this information to help Kendra.

Once they passed more than 20 bottles of potions, the twins smiled. "Ready for your first level of information that will help you?"

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for now…sorry if it took a bit longer than usual to update since I usually update almost everyday!<strong>

**I hope this chapter wasn't too boring!**

**Thanks to all the readers and reviewers out there:**

**liquidsilver22**

**iMelinda**

**fantasyforever95 **

**ThoughtThinker**

**SymetricallyObsessed**

**OriginalSBKD**

**Nadine99WuzHere**

**Fairytale14**

—**aznbooklover **


	10. Bargaining

**A/N: If you haven't read Fablehaven book #4 you probably won't get the whole stingbulb part…so I recommend you read it if you haven't yet! Actually, I recommend the whole series to anyone who hasn't read it…**

**Preview:**

_Seth saw her face…and wanted laugh. But at the same time he felt sorry for her. Yet what could he do? He needed this information to help Kendra._

_Once they passed more than 20 bottles of potions, the twins smiled. "Ready for your first level of information that will help you?"_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

"Yes we're ready." They all leaned forward, ready to hear their wisdom.

"Have you ever heard of…" they started to say.

"Of…?" Elise urged them.

Udna and Urgel smiled. "Of a stingbulb?"

"WHAT?" Seth shouted. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Vanessa got up and walked towards them. "Seriously, is this some _kind of joke_?" Warren had to pull her back to her seat and restrain her from pouncing on the twins.

"You specifically said that you wanted information that could help you. And our question to you was, 'Ready for your first level of information that will help you?' and you all said yes. This information will help you, we are sure," Udna said smugly.

"Lady, since you obviously don't know, a stingbulb is just a replica of a real person. Like a clone," Vanessa said angrily. "We needed something that could cure a rare poison. How does making a _replica _heal someone on THEIR DEATHBED?" Her voice rose at the last part.

The twins crossed their arms. "Excuse me. If I recall correctly what you want is Kendra to be running around and alive like she was right?"

Everyone stared at them expecting something good.

"Well, in our calculations, a Kendra will be running around and be alive as well if you just use a stingbulb."

"Your calculations suck! You can't replace anyone for a stingbulb!" Seth yelled. "The last time the Society tried replacing Kendra with a stingbulb it was obvious that it wasn't her. It—she, whatever—wolfed down bowls of Cocoa Krispies and ended up finishing the whole box! That is not the Kendra I know!"

"Isn't a stingbulb Kendra going to be good enough? They inherit the person's memories and looks and everything… And it wouldn't matter about the food; stingbulbs get used to the different foods after a while," Urgel said stubbornly.

"Ignore Seth, food isn't the point! What if someone replaced your twin with a stingbulb? Would that be the same?" Dana retorted angrily.

"I would find it very difficult to stingbulb my twin when we are one." They looked at their nails, already bored with the conversation. "The thing is, you wanted information to help you. The first level was the easiest thing to do. We gave you that information—which was a stingbulb—and you don't appreciate it. But what to do? We have what we want so it doesn't really affect us if you're unhappy with the results."

In response, they were glared at by Dana, Seth, Warren, and Vanessa. Bracken was looking off to the side with his face in his hands, and Gavin was leaning back in his chair, his face blank.

Trask shifted uncomfortably. "Continuing to argue about that information isn't going to help our cause. I would like to request—"

"—you've made enough requests in our opinion—" the twins muttered.

"—a short while for my friends and I to talk about this all first." Trask waited patiently and calmly for their answer even though everyone else was nowhere near patient and calm.

"Five minutes. Udna and I have our own things to talk about." With that they walked into a nearby room and shut the door.

"How can we tell whether they can hear us or not? They're probably eavesdropping!" Seth said angrily.

"You know, if you speak that loudly, they'll probably hear us no matter if they're eavesdropping or not," Victor noted.

Warren shushed them. "Well, what do we do now? We just gave them all our potions for information that we already know, and worst of all won't help us or Kendra! We have two levels left, but not much to give."

"We have to try to give it anyway. But what level should we pick now?" Gavin asked.

"Obviously medium, right? Like going up a ladder: when you climb up you have to go one rung at a time; you can't just skip a rung," Seth remarked.

"Not necessarily. If the next rung was broken would you step on it?" Dana countered.

"…Yes."

"You're not supposed to!"

Elise cut them off. "You know, it might be wiser to choose the hardest level and skip the middle one."

"Why?"

"Because the middle one might be only a slightly better method than the first, which was a big disappointment. And we might just waste something important to us on silly things that might not even work. If we choose the last level, that one is probably the most effective or trustworthy…its most likely to be a better way than the other two since the stakes are higher."

"But the payment…"

"We'll have to worry about that later. I propose that we ask them what they would like to bargain for the middle level. If it's not too much to give, we'll trade. If it is, we might as well go to the last level," Bracken said.

"Agreed." They waited patiently for the twins to come back and when they did they composed themselves.

"What'd you guys talk about?" Seth asked them casually.

The twins sat down with a sly smile on their faces. Seth immediately frowned. No other words were spoken between them.

Clearing his throat, Warren started, "We want to hear what we could bargain for the next level of information. And mind you, we hope it will be something that will _cure_ Kendra, not _replace_ her."

"Mhm," the twins said unconcerned. "What we want from you…for our information…is…one of you."

They all stared at them, dumbfounded. The twins were sitting back with an expectant look on their faces.

Bracken was the first to get out of the trance. "One of us? You…you want to kill one of us?"

They cackled their annoying little laugh. "You think we're that bad? What would a dead body do us?"

"Hang it on your wall?" Seth suggested.

"We don't collect souls either. No, we want one of you alive…to serve us." They smiled at their horrified expressions. "Don't you worry now, you'll be fed well—if there's food—and you'll sleep well, unless we're working on something. You just have to tend to us—"

"_Tend_ to you?"

"—and clean up, and be our guinea pig."

"What do you mean by guinea pig?" Gavin raised his eyebrows.

"Finally speaking?" Gavin took no notice. "We mean testees. Experimental subjects. We invent things too like Victor here. But we don't want to test them on each other because then the other is affected. So we need something…or _someone_…to test with. And it's the perfect occasion—we have a nice healthy group who needs to bargain. So what's it gonna be?"

Warren looked around the group and with their gestures faced the twins and confirmed their anonymous decision, "No deal."

"What?"

"We're not going to give one of us to you. Even if you took out the whole guinea pig thing, we're not going to make one of us live serving someone." They all nodded.

Both of the other party raised their eyebrows. "Fair enough then. We don't lose something, and neither do you. So…I'm guessing you want the hardest level's bargain deal then?"

"It's like you read our minds," Dana said tartly.

"Well, we offer—for the biggest information—that you give us…_Fablehaven_."

No one said a word. Until Seth started laughing. Really loud. It just pierced the silence and everyone gave him confused looks.

"You guys are comedians…in disguise…aren't you?" he asked suddenly serious. Everyone looked at him. "No. But you really think we would give our—along with many others'—home to you? What kind of bargain is that…our home for a stupid piece of information that most likely isn't even true!"

The twins' own body stood up angrily. "How dare you? Without us you would probably have nowhere to turn to!" Udna snarled.

"What are _you_ talking about? We have other places and other things to do after this. Meeting you was only an item on a list!" Dana sided with Seth.

"List? Oh, and what else would be on your _little list_?" Urgel said sarcastically.

"Evolot!" Seth answered confidently. "And we should leave anyway since—"

"What did you say?" they said shakily.

"Evolot…" Seth repeated slowly.

The twins looked at each other. "You already know about Evolot?"

"_Already know_?" everyone repeated.

The twins snapped back into their original cattiness. "No, no. We only meant—"

Warren didn't wait to listen to what they had to say. "What do you mean by 'already know'? If it's what I think it is then that means there's no need to bargain anymore. The information that you are or planning to give us is either something that won't help us or Kendra at all…or something that we already know."

Udna tilted her head. "But how could you be so sure? What if we only had a slip of words and we know something that could help you and you don't know yet?"

"I think it would be better for us to take our chances," Bracken said getting up. Everyone else followed suit.

"Wait!" They turned back. "How bout we bargain for something else?" Urgel's face lit up. "Your jeeps! How about new tires for ¼ of Fablehaven?"

"We will be able to manage on our own, thank you," Victor said.

"Do you even _have_ tires?" Seth muttered.

Warren, Trask, Seth, Elise, Vanessa, Gavin, Victor, and Bracken all filed out and were followed by the frantic twins, who were still offering bargains that weren't even fair. Eventually Trask had enough and looked back to them. "We don't have anything else we need nor want from you. Thank you for your time, but we cannot thank you for your information. We will be going."

With an angry scowl, the twins bustled over to go back to their hut.

Elise suddenly looked around. "Where's Dana?"

Someone came running out of the hut, knocking the twins over in the process. Dana. "Sorry! I was just…uh…admiring something inside." From the corner of his eye, Seth saw Dana hastily stuff something into her pocket. But he didn't say anything.

With a last huff the twins said, "Have a nice trip back."

"If you send George again, I swear we'll kill your pet. And don't think of putting on the show of hot or cold weather. It's not worth it really," Bracken said.

Everyone piled into their jeeps. Gavin leaned back. "So. How are we actually going to leave now? The tires?"

Victor threw over a duffel bag that was hidden in their jeep onto the ground. "Every time I go on trips, I bring most of my inventions…and the things that inspire them. Like this pump." He pulled out a small magical pump that let out air with a push of a lever.

"Is that your invention or the inspiration?"

"Inspiration of course. This is an old magic model. My invention is the glue that going to glue back the slits in the tires themselves." He showed them a brush-like copper stick. "You push onto the other end, and invisible glue comes out. It's actually white for a few moments so you know where you're gluing but then it turns invisible."

Dana, Seth, and Vanessa were the only ones who didn't help out with repairing the tires.

Seth leaned over to Dana. "What did you put in your pocket?"

"You saw?" Dana asked. Seth waited for an answer to his question. "When the twins took our potions, they laid them out on a table. I just went back to get one—or maybe a few—of my age potions. They didn't notice me anyway since they were too busy trying to rip us off."

Dana pulled out similar looking bottles. When Seth inspected them, he laughed.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? They'll hear you!" Dana said smacking him. Seth quieted down.

"It's just so funny. You got the wrong potions. That's three of our distracter spell potions!" Seth snickered.

"What? How do you know?"

Seth gently got one of the bottles from her. "If you look underneath, you'll see a small curly design. That stands for distracter spell potion. You're potion probably has an up arrow or something on the bottom."

"But…how could I get no age potions at all? I have to go back—"

"No you aren't," Vanessa said firmly, without even looking at her. "The twins will probably kidnap you if you do. You're lucky that you managed to nick three potions without being caught."

Dana grunted and crossed her arms…while Seth shook with laughter.

"Okay, we're all set," Victor announced.

They all got back into their seats and drove away from Lost Mesa…and from Urgel and Udna.

* * *

><p><strong>So that's all for now. I hope it wasn't too boring!<strong>

**Please take the poll on my profile. I hope to get results soon!**

**Thanks again to all the reviewers and readers!**

—**aznbooklover **


	11. The Faking Illusions

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated as frequently as I usually do. I had to pull together my ideas for the next few chapters.**

**Preview:**

_Dana grunted and crossed her arms…while Seth couldn't stop laughing._

"_Okay, we're all set," Victor announced._

_They all got back into their seats and drove away from Lost Mesa…and from Urgel and Udna._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

_It was like Midsummer's Eve. No, it was worse. The demons and creatures all around her were ten million times worse and bigger…not only in size but also in number. She was crouching down and dodging them. They were coming at her head and she had to duck every time. She couldn't help but scream as more and more appeared and surrounded her._

_The biggest demon there, an overlarge Cytrion, stomped toward her and gave a roar of triumph. Its slime was slipping down its side and leaking towards her. Then it was like déjà vu—tongues spiraling out from those familiar slits. But there was something different this time. All of the tongues were purple. Poisonous. She got up and ran…towards more darkness. _

_A giant canyon opened up underneath her and she was falling. It was like being on a roller coaster and it went off track…right when it was supposed to go down the steep mountain._

_When she fell, it added more pain to her left arm, mostly because she fell on it. _

_She looked around. No more demons. She got up and sighed with relief. Her whole body ached. How can a spirit ache in the back of your mind? She didn't know, but it happened. This whole thing seemed real, like she was back in her own body again._

"_Alone again?" she told herself._

"_No," said a familiar voice. Seth?_

"_Seth?" He couldn't be here in person right? This was the back of her mind._

_All of a sudden someone stepped out from the far darkness and appeared somewhat glowing so that she was able to see him. _

"_Seth! You're here? How? Magic potion—" Then she noticed something wrong. His face looked serious. And hard and…un-Seth-like._

_Seth stepped forward again. "We won't help you anymore. Finding the antidote is useless."_

"_Why? You can't find it?"_

_No answer. He just looked off to the side. Bored._

_She sighed, and looked down. She wringed her hands. "I-I-I understand…w-we talked about this before you guys left right?"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "What are you even talking about?" She looked up in shock._

"_Huh?"_

_Seth scoffed easily. He approached her with an evil face. She couldn't move back, no matter how terrified of Seth she was right now. She was in shock._

"_We're not going to get you the antidote purely because we've given up on you and realized our wrongs in all this."_

"_Your wrongs?"_

"_You know, you shouldn't talk anymore. All you're doing is repeating what I say anyway. But yes, our wrongs. We were wrong to even try to look for the antidote. It was your fault this all happened. You were so stupid to not move. That's how the tongue got you in the first place. Your own stupidity put you where you are now."_

_She shook her head repeatedly. "It was no one's fault…you're wrong about that."_

"_Seth's not wrong you know." Bracken walked out from the shadows, too. His face wasn't really like Seth's. His was mocking, and contorted, and looked like he was having fun picking out all her flaws._

"_Bracken." _

"_Duh. Who else?"_

"_You agree with Seth? But before…you said—"_

"—_that I loved you? Times and things change ever so fast don't they? No, I've replaced you already."_

_A girl now stepped out of the shadows. She was blond with beautiful hazel eyes and her features were nicely placed. Her body was proportioned right and she matched with Bracken, as if she was also someone of fairy descent. How could she compete with that? She was only fairykind. This girl was perfect…especially when paired up with Bracken._

_To make it worse she walked over to him. "Hi, I'm Angela. Bracken's new girlfriend." She flashed her a fake smile._

_Bracken held her close to him. "Perfect name for her, don't you think? She's just like an angel." He kissed the top of Angela's head and she hugged him back._

_She stood there not reacting. This couldn't be happening. This was not real. Neither of them would do this to her._

"_You aren't real. None of you are! This is just the poison working on my mind. I'm not going to fall for any this."_

_All three of them started laughing and giving her mocking looks. No matter how much she tried to plug her ears or shut her eyes their laughter wouldn't drain away nor their faces disappear._

_They weren't real. This is all just a fake illusion. They're trying to trick her. The real ones are going to come back. These were fakes…but why did they have to look so real?_

_*.*.*.*_

"Now where do we go?" Vanessa asked Warren.

"I don't know anymore. Evolot seems likes a good idea but we have no idea where to start."

They drove for a long time just like this: Warren was silently driving, Seth was laughing at Dana for the potions who was busy trying to whack him, Vanessa attempted to stop them, Gavin was looking at a piece of paper he took out from his back pocket, and Bracken was looking out the window silently.

"Is it just me…or do you look younger, Dana?" Seth asked slyly. And it was true. As time passed her age potions had worn out and her face was going back to its real state.

"Shut up."

In front of them Trask's jeep was driving. But then it suddenly swerved off the road to avoid something blocking its path. Everyone seemed fine, just shaken, in their jeep.

Warren stopped their jeep instantly and reached for his sword.

"What is that thing?" Seth asked, craning his neck to see.

"It's a person. And he has cuts all over his body," Bracken said. He got out of the jeep and prepared his weapons.

"He's injured! Why are you taking out your swords?" Dana said.

"To put him out of his misery?" Seth shrugged.

"This could be a trap," Warren replied cautiously.

Warren slowly approached the figure on the ground. It didn't move. He prodded him with the sword. Trask also walked over and kneeled down next to the stranger.

"He's not dead. Just badly injured. What are we going to do with him?" Trask asked them.

Elise, along with everyone else, got out of the jeep. "Well, we can't just leave him here. Someone with a lesser conscience will probably run him over. Or a creature might eat him."

"So then what do we do? Take him with us?"

"No, we can't. We still have a mission to do," Bracken reminded them. "While you were inspecting him, I was on the lookout. If you look hard enough, there's a hut in the woods next to us. It's mostly covered by shrubs and vines, but you can make out a door and two small windows."

They all looked in the direction Bracken pointed to. There indeed was a hut, and it was hidden well.

"Okay, then. We'll take him there. But we can't leave him alone to fend for himself," Victor cut in. "How about we give it a few hours? We'll have time to think about what we'll do next—how we'll get to Evolot or whatever—and at the same time help this man. You never know…he could actually be a help to _us _in the end."

"But what if he's a bad person? We can't prove that this isn't a trap."

"I can." Bracken attentively took the stranger's hand in his so that he could search his mind and thoughts. "He's clear. No bad ideas…for us at least."

"What's his name?"

"It's hard to tell since he's unconscious. Let's move him to the hut now."

They eventually agreed, although some were hesitant. Trask and Warren lifted him up and put his arms over their shoulders. They dragged him over to the hut while Vanessa and Elise hid the jeeps in the trees and covered them up.

***.*.*.***

Everyone made themselves at home in the hut. In the main/living room, there were books and a fireplace and a sofa—probably where the man slept. In a room in the back were the kitchen and the dinette, which held a table and a sink and a stove. They all looked handmade. The whole hut was only one floored and filled with cabinets and papers. Leading from the kitchen was a small bathroom. Even though it was crowded, it was very cozy.

They had washed the stranger up since he was so bloody and dirty. Everyone was able to see now that he had curly golden hair and a slightly stubby face. His skin was fair and smooth where cuts and bruises weren't. He was really skinny due to the fact that he was beaten and laid out on the road, but it seemed as if he used to be very fit and buff. They guessed he was in either his late 20's or early 30's.

"So we're going to look for someone else who can help us?" Elise confirmed.

"We don't really have a choice," Trask answered gravely. "Our best bet is to go back to the Sphinx and ask for more information on his sources."

Dana sat up. "I heard that his mansion is very elegant and giant. Are we going to stay over there? Maybe for just one night?"

"We don't have the time for that. We've left Fablehaven four days ago and we barely have any time left. We can't afford to lose a night of looking," Warren said.

"Here," Vanessa said, walking into the living room holding a pot of hot soup. "Give this to him when he wakes. It's not much, considering that he didn't have a lot to work with in his cabinets. I put a bit of pain potion to ease the bruises."

"We'll have to give it to him now then. I think he's waking up now." The stranger was shifting and his eyes slowly started to open. He had gray-blue eyes and long lashes. Once he saw them he freaked. He tried to attack them and get away but Bracken immediately held him down.

"Calm down," Bracken said. "We're not here to harm you. We found you on the road and took you here."

"Right. Then how did you know that I lived here? How did you find it?" he croaked back. But he relaxed back on the sofa.

"We didn't know you lived here," Gavin said.

"And this hut was very well hidden. We happened to look at it from the right angle and saw through the disguise," Victor added.

The stranger looked suspicious for only a second before giving it up. "Since it's pretty obvious by the looks on your faces that you're not lying about what you just told me I'm guessing you're not bad people."

"We're not," Seth said.

He laughed weakly. "Obviously. By the way, I'm Cain."

"No last name?" Elise said.

"None that I have gone by in years."

Everyone else introduced themselves, and what they did and everything else in general: Kendra, Fablehaven, the Society, etc. Cain looked confused most of the time, but after some explaining he got the gist of it.

"A fairykind girl," he pondered thoughtfully. "And she's sick? Wouldn't the fairies be able to help her?"

"From what I know, the Queen or her subjects aren't in possession of anything that will be a suitable antidote," Bracken said.

"Okay. Have you asked others? Find someone with reliable information?"

Seth frowned. "If it were only that easy. We've been to the Sphinx and Lost Mesa to see Udna and Urgel. They weren't much of any help though. In the past we had to get help from a witch, Muriel, but she ended up being evil."

Cain gulped down some soup. "And I thought I had a big past. But then again my past is mostly been spread out in the four hundred years I've lived."

"_Four hundred years_?" Dana asked incredulously.

"Yeah, as unbelievable as it is. I was turned immortal when I was 28 years. Been alive ever since."

"Turned immortal?" Bracken asked. "Who turned you immortal?"

"My wife…if you can still call her that. At first, I was okay with being immortal, but now I regret it. I also had some falling outs with her. I even tried persuading her to turn me back to what I once was, but of course she refused. I've tried to divorce her, but it isn't that easy to get her out of Evolot."

That got everyone's attention. "Evolot? She's in Evolot?"

"Oh, you know Evolot? Not many people do."

"If she's in Evolot…that means you know where it is, and how to get there," Warren said excitedly.

"It's not simple. I was kicked out of it. But I know more about Evolot than most do. My wife's told me a lot 'bout it." Cain slurped up some more soup as everyone else digested his words.

Bracken walked over to where he could look right into Cain's face. "Is there some way we could get in touch with your wife? I think she could be a great help to us."

"The only way you can get in touch with her is to go to Evolot yourselves."

"So she's trapped there?"

Cain almost choked on the soup. "Trapped? She's made the whole darn place. It's been her home ever since she can remember."

Then it dawned on all of them the truth behind what Cain was saying. "The person who made Evolot was Silvertongue…"

"Silvertongue? That's what you call her these days?"

"Yeah…but that means that you…you…"

He absent-mindedly finished up his soup. "Yes, I'm the husband of the great Silvertongue."

* * *

><p><strong>That's all for now. So we just found out that Cain is Silvertongue's husbandwannabe ex-husband. What will happen next?**

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc^.^**

—**aznbooklover **


	12. Silvertongue's Husband

**A/N: I just hope this won't be counted as a boring chapter for you readers out there! And just a reminder: If the paragraph doesn't end with quotes, the same person's still talking if the next paragraph starts with quotes. If that makes any sense. Well, please read!**

**Preview:**

"_Silvertongue? That's what you call her these days?"_

"_Yeah…but that means that you…you…"_

_He absent-mindedly finished up his soup. "Yes, I'm the husband of the great Silvertongue."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

"What is she saying?" Dale asked. He was brought up by Stan, Hank, and Ruth to see if could make any sense of her reactions.

"We don't know…at first she kept moving in her sleep and then she started talking…" Ruth said fearfully.

"The pain must be more hurtful in her dreams…" Hank noted.

Dale inspected Kendra's face for a minute. And then something came over him. "I don't think her face shows pain. I think she's _sad_."

Ruth realized it too. "Sad? But why? Because she's in pain?"

"Well, no one will know except for Kendra," Stan said. "Whatever's going on in her mind is only something that she will know."

"Oh I wish we could help her in some way. I can't believe that at such a young age she has to go through this," Ruth said. She rubbed her left arm, but suddenly dropped it back on the bed. "Oh! Look at her arm! The veins are…gone. That should be progress towards recovery."

Tanu now entered the room. "Unfortunately, the disappearance of the veins is bad news. It just means the poison is spreading more."

Ruth gasped and Stan and Hank's faces grew grave. "So her condition is worse?"

"Yes. Look at her face. It's so pale. She has barely any color left in her face, or anywhere else for that matter. Her lips are chapped. And her skin…it's turning colder. It's no longer room temperature or warmer. Not much longer and then her skin will be cold forever."

"You can't mean…"

Tanu didn't look them in the face. "Kendra is dying. Only the antidote can help her now."

*.*.*.*

"No. Way," Seth deadpanned.

"Oh, wow. Seth is actually not laughing his maniac laugh that he uses all the time," Dana said. "It's a miracle."

Cain looked around to see their shocked faces. "What?"

"You're married to Silvertongue? How?" Elise asked.

Cain cleared his throat. "Since you've told me all your stories and such, it's my turn. So let's start at the beginning, when I was still only a little boy and not 442.

"Back then, since I was young, I had known of the magical world already. I was well off as a boy with parents and wealth that wasn't the biggest, but a good bit to help me on my way when I was old and had another generation.

"Anyway, my father was the first one in my family to have found out about magic and the creatures. My father was a traveler and went to many exotic places to see things that others had not. He stumbled upon a magical place where fairies roamed and where there was milk. No doubt you know just what kind of milk I'm talking about. Once he drank the milk, he saw wonders. What he thought was a mere swarm of bugs, were actual fairies! What seemed to be a strange horse was a centaur. And on and on.

"Excited with his discovery, he filled up a bottle he had with the milk and brought it back to me and my mother. We were now prone to the magic world."

"But how did you get to Evolot?" Seth asked impatiently. Dana told him to shut up.

Cain laughed. "Hold on. Things won't be understood if I skip," he said. "So after my father first heard of the other world, he became obsessed with it. At first, he thought that we were the only family in the whole entire world—at least our world—that knew this secret, so he hid it from everyone. As much as he could, he went back to that same place to steal more and more milk.

"My mother tried stopping him, but of course he wouldn't listen. And after a few years of stocking up and looking at the other world, he felt like the greatest adventurer on Earth. And that idea took over him."

"Isn't the world's greatest adventurer Patton Burgess?" Seth asked.

"He's believed to be, but I only heard that name years later, while my father never did get the chance to hear it," Cain answered. "Back to the story. I was then 15 years old. My father had another idea now. It was an impossible dream."

"What was it?" Gavin asked.

Cain sighed. "He wanted to capture a centaur…and make him as a worker for him."

"What?" Warren exclaimed. "But you know how centaurs are. This would infuriate them. They have a lot of pride."

"Well, my mother and I knew that much about centaurs and didn't bother ourselves with them. We liked the magic world too, but we knew where the boundaries lie. My father tried to take those boundaries away. But you know that that's not right.

"So he went to the home of the centaurs, and saw one that caught his eye. It was the leader's son, Thunderbane. It was one of the worst choices to make, other than the choice of deciding to capture a centaur at all. But my father didn't care. He went for it. He had a net, and bait. Once he got Thunderbane away from the rest of them he caught him up in a net, made of the strongest things he could find. But the strongest net can't stop sounds.

"The leader, Thornweaver, heard his son's calls and came to rescue him and brought along the whole pack. They managed to release Thunderbane and rounded up on my father. My father thought he was the greatest man alive and so…you know, he thought he could beat them all and challenged Thornweaver to a duel."

"Ah, one of us here has some experience with centaur duels," Vanessa said pointedly at Seth.

"Then that person would know the problems with dueling with centaurs. And did this person beat him?" Cain wondered.

"Not exactly, he had someone fight for him. Patton Burgess himself," Warren answered.

Cain stopped. "How long ago was this?"

"Few years back."

"Uh, wasn't Patton dead by then?"

Warren realized what he was getting at. "Oh, he was, but we brought him back…" With a look at his confused face he stopped. "That's a long story for another time. Go on with yours."

"So the two of them dueled. Mostly my father was on defense, and got beat up at some points. But at one of those points it brought my father to the ground. Just when Thunderbane got ready to make the last and fatal strike, my mother cut in…and took the blow for him."

"Oh, I'm so sorry…"

"Strange how I haven't heard that in a while. But it's been a while and there's no need to pity me.

"My mother died that day right in front of me and my father. I'm sure it was quick. Thunderbane said she wasn't part of the death duel, but since she took the death price for losing, my father didn't have to pay it as well. The centaurs left. My father grieved for my mother but eventually it turned to anger.

"He blamed the centaurs for her death and he was now obsessed with finding that same centaur and getting revenge. He spent all our money on getting weapons and finding them and all that. We were now poor. I was 18.

"My father died after getting many heart attacks and high blood pressure. When he was still supposed to be resting after a heart attack he went out and yelled at the world and had a rage. He was killed by an ogre he annoyed."

"A certain person here has also met up with an ogress," Vanessa commented. Seth pretended he hadn't heard a thing.

"Why wasn't your father able to access Evolot then since he was in need when fighting the ogre?" Seth asked instead.

"First of all, my father had put himself in that tight spot. If he hadn't yelled out into the woods the ogre wouldn't have been angry in the first place. Second, if there was a list out there listing people who needed help the most in the world, my father would be somewhere near the bottom, really. Lastly, only good souls are helped by Silvertongue and Evolot. My father was corrupted by hatred."

"We could pass as good souls right?"

Cain looked at Seth. "Hmm…you probably can. My father couldn't and I was soon an orphan. But since I was at the right age, I could live alone. However, I lived in a decent house, yes, but since my father spent so much money for his trips, I was broke, and worse I had debts to pay.

"I regret and admit it: I stole. But only from the better off people. I would disguise myself as butlers or servants and work for them, and steal. I managed to get away every time."

"Um, why didn't you just get a job?" Dana asked.

"I hate to admit it, but I had only finished middle school and had two years of high school. My father didn't bother to send me to school or educate me really. The only things I know about are the magic world; I forget everything else. So no person would let me work for them without a proper education."

"So how did you manage to get a job as a butler?"

"Easy. I lied. It was harder to lie at other job places and usually my looks got me a job as a butler. Common managers don't hire people for their looks.

"So there was this one time when I went off to a very rich widowed lady. She was old and cautious and expected the best. So that's what I disguised myself as: the perfect servant. I worked months there and earned some pay…and soon I decided to make my move. I stole once again. But there was a slight twist this time. I was caught and dragged to jail. For years I was in that cell—4 years to be exact—and then depression washed over me. I was poor and lonely and troubled and all that. And then a rat gave me a sickness. So now I was depressed, lonely, homeless, broke, and sick. I was in great need."

"Evolot was now open to you?" Trask asked.

"Not yet. I was in great need but not the greatest I could have been. Also, getting into Evolot isn't like being transported."

"But you did end up in Evolot, right?" Victor said.

"Of course. But it was only when I was on the verge of death. That was the moment when I was in the greatest need because 1) I was dying, 2) if I died then I would never have a chance to be happy. So I was given a key."

"A key? Wait the Sphinx said before that only the people in greatest need hold the 'key to Evolot'! He meant it literally!" Seth was super excited.

Cain chuckled. "Seems so. I had the key in my hands. I knew it was magic…but what to do with it? I looked for a lock and it took a while to find it. It was in the spot where I found it, somewhere in the back corner of my cell. It was carved into the wall and so I put it in. I turned the key and a magnificent light blinded my eyes for a good moment.

"Suddenly, I wasn't in a cell anymore. I thought it was Heaven. There were beautiful fields and trees and a lake; the skies were filled with clouds and birds and everything. But a beautiful lady showed up and said that I had reached Evolot."

"So she is a lady," Vanessa confirmed.

"She usually chooses to be in that form. But she can be anything. A man, a serpent, a centaur, a dog. But when she is in her woman form, she is absolutely beautiful. No doubt about it. The perfect woman. However, I'm not sure that form would persuade other women. Perhaps she turns into a fine young man. But I admit that I was captivated by her and I was gullible in her presence.

"So then I was given health and I became well. I was cleaned and she told me that my criminal record had been wiped and I was now able to roam free. I was given a platform to start with—a nice house and job that paid well. It was a dream come true for me."

"We heard that you would be tempted," Gavin said.

"And so I was," Cain continued wistfully.

**Flashback**

_She showed him the image of the beautiful house and where he was going to work and his clean record. It was too good to be true._

"_Thank you so much…" Cain said happily. "What ever could I do to repay you?"_

_She laughed her melodious laugh that she had and her long blond hair was swept over her shoulders. "No need, Cain. It was your good soul that brought you here, and of course, your great need."_

"_So when do I go back to my world?"_

"_Very, very soon. Time doesn't exist here you know. But before you leave I have one thing to offer you." _

"_How could you offer more things when you have already given so much?"_

_She laughed yet again. "I have much to give. But you have a choice. You can go back there to your old life…or stay with me."_

"_With you? But the house…and—"_

"_The house will be here instead. Actually, your house will be bigger and more wonderful. Don't you think it's beautiful here? With the fields and the view? And no matter about your job. Money isn't an obstacle here. It's like Heaven…yet better."_

_Cain couldn't answer. This was way too much. He wouldn't have to work here. And to stay with her… But what about back home? He didn't have friends, certainly enemies. It would be hard to start again. Here it was all planned out for him. Him and her together…_

"_This must be a dream."_

"_Of course not, silly," she laughed. Her face looked so pretty when she laughed. And when she talked. And whenever. "This is because of you. So what will it be? Back on Earth"-she frowned a bit when she said it-"or here in Evolot…with me?"_

_Cain thought about it. And made a decision he was certain of. It was obviously the better and obvious one._

"_Yes, I will stay with you…here in Evolot."_

**End of Flashback**

Cain sighed. "Ah well. I was certain about it then and now it just became a regret. So I stayed there and it was all la di da. I was so happy then. She lived with me and we were happy together. Every passing day I fell more and more in love with her. One day I confessed my love for her and she said she loved me back. Big lie, that was."

"So you got married after that?"

"Yes, right then. No ceremony really. She just said we were and that was that. But she said our marriage couldn't work unless I became like her—immortal. I was willing to do everything so we could be together so I conceded. She made me immortal and we stayed together. And we were content with our marriage. At least I was. Once she made sure I was very faithful and loyal to her and Evolot, she told me some things, secrets. I won't go on 'bout that just yet.

"After years of our marriage I realized how stupid I was for everything. Eventually she got bored with me and stopped coming home as often as she did. You see, she went out once every while to go talk to a person in need and everything. You know, the usual giving and tempting and offering. One day she went to me and became herself."

"An ugly old witch with antlers and gross warts leaking with pus?" Seth gasped.

"No, no. Just not so glowing and perfect as she showed me to be." Cain suddenly realized how shallow he was coming off as. "Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not shallow and picking women by their looks and them being perfect. It's just that after not being so perfect, it was easier to resist her and not be as gullible."

"It's alright. We get you," Elsie soothed him. "So go on. What happened when she came home?"

He looked down at his hand. "Well. She started complaining to me about the people she was helping. She went on about how clueless they were about what they were really doing. At first I never really thought about those words she said so I brushed that aside. She went on about their mistakes and them being so gullible. After hearing her say those words I wondered if she had a secret split personality. What really surprised me was when she revealed how she prospered from her deeds."

"Prospered? How?" Bracken asked him.

"This is one of the secrets she told me. Every time someone enters Evolot and decides to take the temptation—which is always in Evolot—she becomes stronger and gains more powers. I was so daft to not understand that I was included in all her plans. After more days and months of listening to her complaining and bad comments about other people I finally understood. How I was a part in all of her plans. And something else worse. In some people's cases, she was the reason they were in desperate need at all."

"She caused some of the people's misery? How could she? That's so terrible!" Dana yelled angrily.

"I thought so too. So I fought with her about it. And one day I made her reach her limits and she wanted to punish me for it. I offered a divorce, but she said that wasn't enough. Then she had it. She sent me back to Earth."

"Sorry, but how is that a punishment? Shouldn't that be good?" Victor said.

"Because I could never be happy. I wouldn't be able to fit in anymore. I was immortal for life and well I couldn't find love, since it would just pain me in the end—me being 28 always and my wife growing older each day. I kept to myself because if I made friends they would die too."

"Wait, so you were on Earth for around 300 years then?"

"No actually," he said. "Time doesn't really apply in Evolot. I think it's different for everyone. I was so happy that I didn't care about time anymore. So I spent more than 300 years there—which felt like a year or two—but when I came back to Earth it had only been a few years. I went into hiding in the woods but got beaten by magical creatures, probably sent by her. I found refuge with the Sphinx and told him some Evolot information in exchange for hospitality."

"So you were the Sphinx's source! But I thought he said you were dead," Dana mentioned.

"Yeah, I faked my death so no one would follow me or try to torture the information out of me. I've lived in hiding in this very hut for somewhere 'round 35 years."

"Then how'd you get on the road beaten up?"

"Hit and run car accident," Cain said sadly. "Probably my wife punishing me more. It's been a while since she's done these kinds of things. Thought she forgot about me already." He hung his head sadly.

Vanessa's face softened, as did many others. "You still love her don't you?"

Cain smiled. "Well, yeah. She's my wife."

"But I thought you wanted to divorce her," Seth said confused. He earned himself a slap on the arm.

"I had a feeling she wanted to divorce me. I think she only married me because of my looks."

"That sucks."

He sighed. "Too late now. So I've told you everything that I know…or at least all the answers you asked for."

"Okay, so to get us to Evolot to help Kendra, we're going to have to wait until she's on the very edge of death…then that'll be the moment when we get the key probably. We stuff it in the lock exactly where we lock it and then…BOOM! Off to Evolot. All we have to do is get the antidote from Silvertongue, not resist to the temptation and come back and heal Kendra,"

Seth confirmed.

Everyone started to get up. "Thank you, Cain, for all this information you have given us." But when they turned to face him he looked confused.

"Wait. What did you say?"

"Thank you?"

He shook his head. "Before that. You said _you _will get the key?"

"Well, yeah. The person who gets the key is the person in most need—that's us. We need the antidote more than anything or anyone."

"You're wrong though," Cain said.

"What do you mean?" Warren asked.

"When I received the key it was because _I_ was depressed and sick and all that. The person in most need was me. It should be the same case for you. Someone's in need, but you're only the ones who _want_ to heal her. You guys won't be the ones getting the key."

They all stopped. "The same as your case…"

"You before was the sick one, the one in need…"

"So if it's the same thing as our problem, then the one who receives the key is the person we're _doing this for_."

"_Kendra_." It had all hit them right in the face. They all thought that they were the ones in need the most in this problem. They made a mistake and it could cost them.

They all rushed out of the hut. "We have to go now! We might not have enough time to make it back to Kendra. If we miss the key, we miss our chance!" Bracken said.

Cain went out with them. "Wait. Let me come with you. I might be able to help in some way."

They hurriedly agreed and Cain jumped into Warren's jeep. Right as his rear touched the seat, the jeep was already moving towards Fablehaven.

*.*.*.*

"Can't we go any faster?" Seth urged.

"I'm already at 95 miles per hour," Warren said.

"We all have to calm down," Gavin said grudgingly. "If we just panic the whole time we might make another mistake."

For once Bracken agreed with him. They couldn't afford to make another mistake. Not with the stakes so high. He thought back on all the things that Cain had said. Maybe there was something that could help them later on. Then he remembered something that Cain had said. "Hey, Cain."

"Hm?" Cain said. He was focusing on the path ahead of them.

"Earlier when we told you that Silvertongue was the name that we used, you were surprised."

He shrugged. "I didn't call her that before. She went by a different name."

"What was it?"

"Angela."

* * *

><p><strong>Coincidence? I think not!<strong>

**Another super long—and hopefully not super boring—chapter for the readers. Hope you liked Cain's story and all the new revelations that we're finding out about Evolot. **

**Keep reviewing and wait for my next update!**

—**aznbooklover **


	13. Back to Fablehaven

**A/N: Everyone's all together again! So many characters and parts to write now…**

**Preview:**

"_Earlier when we told you that Silvertongue was the name that we used, you were surprised."_

_He shrugged. "I didn't call her that before. She went by a different name."_

"_What was it?"_

"_Angela."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

"Stan! Hank!" Ruth called from outside. The two came running out to see what Ruth had called them out for.

"Look. They're back!" she cried excitedly. "Kendra will be alright."

The jeeps pulled into Fablehaven and parked right outside the doors. Everyone got out of the car and ran up to them. Bracken, Seth, Gavin, Vanessa, and Warren went up ahead to the attic room without taking a second glance at Ruth, Stan, or Hank.

"What's wrong?" Stan asked worriedly. Trask and Elise approached them and told them about the current situation and introduced Cain and Dana, whom they didn't know.

After running up the stairs, Bracken pushed open the door, but stopped in the doorway, as did everyone else. The room became very quiet and only the sound of rasped and hard breathing could be heard.

"Oh, God…" Vanessa gasped. "She really is…"

"…dying," Warren finished off for her.

And by now it really looked obvious that she was. Her face and body were skinnier since she couldn't eat while sleeping after all those days. Her skin was more than the average pale should be and in general she almost looked…dead.

Bracken finally walked over to her and kneeled down. The rest of them followed suit and crowded around her bed. Seth and Bracken held on to each of her arms while Warren and Vanessa stood by the foot of the bed. Gavin sat down on Seth's bed and watched them with a serious face.

"She's so cold…" Seth said trying to make her warmer. He pulled her blanket closer to her chin and rubbed her arms.

Warren sighed. "Seth, I think that's not going to help…" Seth paid him no mind and just kept rubbing and looking at her face. Bracken had a similar reaction and just held onto Kendra's hand, but didn't look into her face, but at her hands and his hands entwined.

"Well, at least we know that Kendra's not on the verge of death anyway. Then we'd have the key I'm guessing," Vanessa reasoned.

Dana, Trask, Elise, Victor, Cain, Ruth, Stan, and Hank finally appeared in the doorway and joined the five of them at discussing Kendra's condition.

"Ah, it is the one and only fairykind girl of Fablehaven," Cain mused.

"So _that's_ Kendra," Dana said a little disappointedly. "She's pretty…" So _this_ was she had to compete with. Dang it. How could Gavin like her when Kendra was around them now? Hopefully he would lose interest in her after seeing her in this condition. Hopefully. But she only hoped that Gavin would change his mind about his feelings only after looking at her conditions now, not because she died at the end. She wasn't a bad person to wish that Kendra would die to give her more chances.

"She's been like this for a while now," Hank said. "The cold skin, the skinniness, the chapped lips, the paleness. While you were gone dark veins appeared on her left arm."

"Veins? Then where are they now?"

"Tanu said that the disappearance of the veins shows that the poison has spread. I thought it would be progress, but it wasn't," Ruth filled in gloomily.

Victor turned to Stan. "What else has happened when we were gone?"

"The obvious, of course, with her physical symptoms. But some other things we don't understand as well. Like her sad expression the other day. And she was talking in her sleep. Don't ask, we don't know what she was saying. And she's had times when she looks like in pain. I think something might be going on in her head."

Seth whipped his head to turn to them. "Something in her head? Like crazy?"

"No, no. We're talking more about dreams."

"So she's dreaming?"

"That's our theory."

There was a moment of silence and everyone watched Kendra silently for any reactions she might have.

Ruth cleared her throat. "So you weren't able to find the cure?"

"Not exactly," Warren said. "Evolot is the answer to all this yet we don't have access to it." They gave more details on how to access Evolot and such. "Cain told us this. He's Silvertongue's husband."

"Again, nice to meet you all," Cain said. "I want to apologize beforehand…I might bring a bit of misfortune because of my wife."

"Not to worry. We've had a bit of misfortune ourselves."

Stan glanced over at Kendra. "So about your journey. Since there's no cure, we just wait for Kendra to…almost die?"

"As bad as it sounds, that's exactly what we have to do. But we aren't going to wait until she she's dead, only just before."

"I have a question," Gavin called out. The whole time he had been silent. "For Cain."

Cain looked a bit confused but he gestured for Gavin to continue.

"You said that _you_ got the key when you were in need and _you_ were able to enter Evolot when you were in need."

"Uh, yes?"

"So back then you corrected us that Kendra was the one who would be receiving the key in the end of all this since she's the one in need, not us."

"That's correct."

"My question is: Based on your own case, is there a possibility that we won't get access to Evolot or go there at all…because Kendra is the one in need in all of this, making her the rightful receiver of the key?"

Silence. No one had ever thought of this. In the end, all of them depended on Cain's answer.

Cain looked down. "…I never actually thought of this…"

"But is it true?"

Sigh. "Unfortunately, there is a possibility…that only Kendra will go to Evolot."

Seth stood up and his chair flung backwards. "But Kendra doesn't know about Evolot! Or the temptation…she could be stuck there in Evolot! She'll be miserable!"

"Shh…we don't want to disturb Kendra too much. We have to calm down. I think, since he knows the most about these matters, that Cain should talk to Kendra for a while," Hank suggested.

"Will she even be able to hear him?"

"It's worth a shot."

"Alone? We can stay here. I swear I'll be quiet," Seth pleaded. Dana snorted at his remark.

"I think having too many people around is a bit unsettling—for both Kendra and Cain. Kendra will be perfectly fine under Cain's protection and I trust that Cain will call if anything happens." Cain nodded his acknowledgement. "And I think we all need to go over our plans."

Reluctantly, they filed out of the room and left Cain to sit in the place Bracken had occupied recently. Cain took a deep breath.

"Ahem. I have no idea if you can hear me or anything, but it's mandatory that I tell you about this. Oh, I'm Cain by the way. I know who you are and how you got here…" He cleared his throat yet again. He never talked to an unconscious person before.

But he had to go through with this. So he went straight to the point. "I'm not going to talk about how I came to be in Fablehaven. I need to talk to you about Evolot and Silvertongue and how you cannot fall for her tricks…"

*.*.*.*

_It had been a while. No visions anymore. And to her relief, no illusions. Eventually, after calling her names and continuously insulting her, the illusions had walked off into the shadows. Seth went one way; Bracken and Angela the other. It was no use trying to pursue them since they would laugh at her all over again. Another torture session. _

_So she had sat there, curled up with her chin resting in her arms and her knees pulled up to her chest. Her left arm still throbbed but it was bearable. She would just stay here until they came back. Or until something came up._

_After what seemed like weeks, she heard something. The door opening. Someone was walking into the attic room where her real body lay. The way they opened the door made it seem like it was urgent that they did. _

_There were no footsteps sounding in the room; they had stopped in the doorway. Could it be? Had they come back? She would be healed! She would go out of this darkness! To be alive again…and to see actual light…_

_Vanessa's voice…saying that she really was dying. She was dying? But she surely was going to be healed right?_

_Footsteps walking in. They were walking in. She could sense Bracken on her right, Seth on her left. The others were nearby she was sure. That familiar ghost of a touch was back as Bracken and Seth held on to both her arms. It was reassuring really. The real Seth and Bracken. No Angela._

_Seth said she was cold. She lifted her arms to feel her temperature. She couldn't feel anything. No coldness, yet no warmth either. Typical._

"_Seth, I think that's not going to help…" Warren's voice. _

_No matter if Seth's tries to make her warmer didn't help, they were reassuring and she didn't mind. "Thank you, Seth," she called into the darkness. The pressure on her arms was still there._

"_Well, at least we know that Kendra's not on the verge of death anyway. Then we'd have the key I'm guessing," Vanessa was saying. Key? What key? How could they know she wasn't on the verge of death because she didn't have a key? She was confused._

_More footsteps walking into the room. Newcomers? A man started talking about her being fairykind. He probably could be trusted since he was let inside the attic room. _

"_So that's Kendra. She's pretty…" A girl? Angela? No. This girl's voice was younger sounding and she didn't have the same flowy 'I'm-an-angel' type of voice. And she called her pretty. Angela would never do that. She felt she wouldn't have any problems with this girl._

_They talked about her conditions and her symptoms. Veins? Paleness? She didn't have a mirror here to look at herself and she was in the dark. No sight._

_Then they mentioned something going inside her head. _

"_Something in her head? Like crazy?"_

"_No, no. We're talking more about dreams."_

"_So she's dreaming?" _

"_That's our theory."_

_They had it partly right. Something was in her head…her spirit. But this definitely wasn't a dream. She just knew it. _

"_So you weren't able to find the cure?" They didn't find it? She was going to die?_

"_Not exactly," Warren said. "Evolot is the answer to all this yet we don't have access to it." _

_The man from early started to talk. He introduced himself as Cain. Apparently he was Silvertongue's husband. Who was Silvertongue?_

_Gavin started to talk. He had a question for Cain._

"_You said that you got the key when you were in need and you were able to enter Evolot when you were in need." She was super confused. In need? Evolot?_

"_Uh, yes?"_

"_So then you corrected us that Kendra was the one who would be receiving the key in the end of all this since she's the one in need, not us." What was this key they kept coming back to?_

"_That's correct."_

"_My question is: Based on your own case, is there a possibility that we won't get access to Evolot or go there at all…because Kendra is the one in need in all of this, making her the rightful receiver of the key?" So many questions swarmed in her head. It was useless to say all of them._

_There was silence. She waited for Cain's answer. But when he talked, it was muffled. Contorted. Disturbed. It sounded like someone had stuffed a pillow over someone's face and that person was talking. Or as if someone was stopping her from hearing what they had to say._

"_Say it again…" she whispered into thin air. She wanted, no, needed to know what he had to say. It was about her. She had a right to know. But of course, he didn't repeat anything._

_Everything else that people said was muffled just the same. She could hear Seth talking. His voice had risen. He was angry? Why? Hank calmed him down._

_The talking continued. It was no longer muffled. At least she could hear clearly now. Apparently Cain was going to talk to her now, in private. About Evolot maybe?_

_Everyone went out the room and she was left alone with Cain. He started with an introduction. But then he got straight to the point. _

"_I'm not here to talk about how I came to be in Fablehaven," he started. She sat up a little higher. This sounded important. _

_Unfortunately, the muffler came back. And whatever he had to say was distorted and couldn't be made out at all. She had no idea what to do. She needed to hear this! It seemed so important…and it seemed long. It was all muffled._

"_I need to hear this. But I can't. Why?" she called out desperately. His talk lasted for the next few minutes and his tone got serious. She gave up and lay on the floor in a heap of defeat. She couldn't do anything now._

_*.*.*.*_

They sat waiting for Cain downstairs. But in the meantime, they had to figure out what they would do now that everyone was here.

"We're going to have to keep watch on her then, every second, every day, if we're trying to see when she'll be on the verge of death," Victor said.

"Right. Who's first watch?" Trask added.

Bracken flicked his head. "I want to stay in the room always. I don't mind if other people switch off, but I'm staying there the whole time."

"Me too," Seth said.

"Are you sure? All day and night? How will you sleep?" Vanessa asked.

Bracken thought for a second before answering. "I'll ask for a potion. And if I have to sleep, then I'm sleeping right next to Kendra's bed. Along with someone else who will be watching in my place."

"I suppose so…" Warren said a bit doubtfully. But if he was in Bracken's place, especially with the relationship Bracken and Kendra had, he would do the same.

"It's settled then."

"But Bracken should have someone with him at all times all the same. We will still include watches. I know Seth is willing to stay with you but—"

"—eventually he's gonna get bored or fall asleep." Dana finished for Elise.

Seth didn't say anything. He knew it was true. Maybe he could last staying in the room for 6 hours maximum before he would go outside or something.

"Okay, who's first watch?" Bracken chose to start the watches off.

Gavin cleared his throat. "I'm second watch. When does first watch end?"

Bracken whirled his head towards him. "Seriously?"

"Unicorn, I'm taking second watch since you already stole first. Don't try to stop me." Gavin leaned back in his chair and didn't even glance at Bracken.

But Bracken didn't back down. "What are you planning to do on your watch?"

"Oh, I don't know, watch Kendra maybe?" Gavin said sarcastically.

"I think we should calm down," Dana pleaded.

"Fine. But I'm going to be there watching both Kendra and you."

"Whatever. I don't care." Gavin slumped down and looked out the window. He was bored with Bracken. Bracken didn't answer. It wasn't worth it.

Warren tapped the table with his hand. "So who's third watch?"

In the end, it played out nicely. Here was the order of the watches: Bracken, Gavin, Vanessa, Warren, Elise, Dana, Victor, Trask, Seth, Ruth, Stan, and Hank. They would switch every hour so that everyone could get free time and sleep. Except for Bracken of course.

Time for first watch started exactly when Cain walked down the stairs. "I hope Kendra can hear through the sleep."

"You told her everything already? About the key and the temptation?"

"Of course."

Bracken got up and his chair scraped against the floor. "I'll start first watch now." He jogged up the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

"I don't think I will be able to stay 24 hours a day in a room doing nothing anymore. Well, since it's not my turn yet, I'll go outside for a little bit," Seth said. He walked over to the door leading outside but turned around when he reached the doorway. "If anything happens, I expect someone to call me, okay?" With that, he raced out.

Dana leapt to her feet. "And I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Mostly she wouldn't have anyone to talk to if she just stayed indoors. She followed Seth out the door.

"I'll be taking my leave as well," Trask said. "I should be back before my watch. Elise and I will go back to Cain's hut to get some of his things. He said he left some important things that we'll get for him. We can't trust him to go out by himself."

Elise and Trask nodded their goodbyes and left.

"I'm going to take advantage of the watches and go to sleep. The past few days have been sleep depriving." Hank, Stan, and Ruth excused themselves from the table. Warren and Vanessa headed over to the cottage near the woods where Warren lived. They were going to rest as well.

So that left Gavin. He looked awkwardly around the empty table. What to do? He stood up and walked over to the door. He spotted Seth and Dana and some satyrs playing football in the other field. He decided not to join them.

Gavin sat back down and took a deep breath. He still had an hour to burn before it was his turn to take watch…so why not come in early? And he never knew, just being able to say to Kendra that he spent most of his time watching over her—like Bracken—might give him progress to gaining her trust.

He slipped up the stairs and paused before opening the door. He wondered what Bracken's reaction would be. But before he could open the door he heard Bracken's voice…talking to Kendra.

"…so that you'll know my side of our story."

Gavin laid flat against the wall and squatted right near the keyhole. He knew this was probably the wrong thing to do but what could you do when tempted with a rare occasion such as this?

So he shifted closer to the keyhole…and listened.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for waiting for this chapter!<strong>

**I wrote half of it last week but didn't have time to finish it on the weekend because I went on vacation! :( so sorry for the lateness.**

**But now everyone's back in Fablehaven and new things are finally happening with the love triangle. Even though the whole Evolot thing is coming up in the next few chapters, the story isn't close to being done!**

**One last heads up: This week I'm probably going to busy getting ready for school because school is next week already! So I apologize if it takes longer to update on my chapters. I'll try to manage school and writing! **

—**aznbooklover **


	14. Other Sides

**A/N: I'm not that knowledgeable about football, so sorry if I get anything wrong about the facts! If there's any corrections, PM or review. I was too lazy to look online for the rules of football^.^**

**Preview:**

"…_so that you'll know my side of our story."_

_Gavin laid flat against the wall and squatted right near the keyhole. He knew this was probably the wrong thing to do but what could you do when tempted with a rare occasion such as this?_

_So he shifted closer to the keyhole…and listened._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

Seth tried to relax. There had been enough pressure and worrying over the last few days and he wanted a break from all that. Football was a getaway activity for him and a getaway sounded just right at the moment. Right now, all he wanted was to not be reminded about Kendra and their problems. He knew that he would have to face his troubles soon, especially when the key showed up. Apparently Dana wanted that too since she had followed him.

But the best part about playing with satyrs was that they had no idea that Kendra had fallen ill or about anything that happened. Only the humans knew what was really going on.

They were well into the game. The score was 9-3, and Team Humans—Seth and Dana—were losing to Team Satyrs—Newel and Doren.

"I bet you won't be able to beat us," Doren taunted.

"We can still catch up," Dana countered evenly.

Newel coughed slightly. "Let's make this more competitive shall we? How about if you can't tie with us in the next play, you have to give us a bucketful of batteries? Different kinds if you don't mind."

Seth tilted his head. "What do we get?"

The satyrs hesitated. "How about gold?"

He shook his head. "Nah, there's nothing I would do with it anyway. I got it. You are going to have to owe us. Not now, but whatever we ask for…you do it."

Dana glanced over at Seth. "Pretty fair. I'm up for it."

"Seth, you used to be so easy to bribe. But it's a bet." They stalked over to the opposite side of the field and talked their plans over, and Team Humans did the same.

"Okay," Seth said huddling with Dana. "You know that all we need is a touchdown and then we'll be tied up."

"Yeah, so what's the plan?"

He hesitated. "Since you can't catch—"

"I can't catch _well_," she corrected him stubbornly.

"—you'll continue as quarterback. When I throw it to you at 'hike', just wait for me to get at a good distance—maybe around 30 yards—then throw it over. I'll run for the end zone, making it a touchdown. We'll be tied. Can you do it?"

Dana scoffed. "Sure."

Seth nodded. He flagged Newel and Doren to get into their positions. As soon as they were all ready, Seth couched down with the ball in his hands. "Down…set…hike!"

He tossed it over from in between his legs and she easily caught it. Seth made a run for it and looked back, waiting for the ball to fly. Just before Newel could take her down, Dana let the ball fly over to Seth. Seth had to move a bit to his right before making the perfect catch. Seth maneuvered around Doren and caused him to fall. Seth dashed off down the field and ran past the touchdown line.

"Touchdown!" Seth said gleefully.

Newel and Doren shook their heads sadly. "They caught up in one play?"

"And we lost the chance at getting more batteries? Unbelievable." Doren covered his face with his hands.

Meanwhile, Seth was racing down the field with his arms spread out wide. Dana was too busy laughing at him. "You look so stupid!"

"Who cares?"

Newel looked off into the woods. "Ah, look, if it isn't Verl," Newel said.

And it was indeed Verl. "Oh, my! Seth! Brother!"

"Brother?" she inquired, looking at Seth.

"Long story." He turned to Verl. "Hey."

"I see you have come back from your trip! I hear that almost everyone accompanied you on your vacation…including Kendra."

"Ohhh…another Kendra fan," Dana realized.

"Fan? No, miss, I am not just a fan. I am an admirer that breaches out of all the others, including that fairy boy…" Verl frowned when he said fairy boy. "He does not acknowledge her value as much as I."

"I don't know. I think he does. Maybe even more than you," Dana said.

Verl looked appalled. "And what would make you think that? Were the sculptures, the paintings, the love letters, the book, the collages, and the model of our future dream house not enough? What possibly could be the reason that you, miss, would think that fairy boy surpasses me?"

"Um, well, first, maybe Kendra didn't like anything that you made her in the first place."

"What?" Verl asked angrily.

"Uh, Dana, I don't think you should continue…" Seth warned.

Dana ignored them both. "Second, Bracken went out to find her the cure when you didn't even bother."

"Wait, cure?" Verl didn't know about any cure.

"And lastly, Bracken is the one who volunteered to watch her day and night while she lies on her deathbed and will do anything to heal her. And seeing that you are still standing in front of me, Bracken surpassed you by a lot."

"Cure? Deathbed? My lovely Kendra is _sick_? _Dying_?" Verl asked with his mouth agape.

"To put it frankly, yes."

"It can't be too bad can it? I know just what to do!" Verl was bouncing on his hooves as he excitedly started talking. "I'll make her a lovely carving of herself. That will make her feel better!"

Doren sighed. "I doubt it."

"And then I'll make some of my Mother's famous soup! It always healed me when I was a young satyr."

"Verl, you had a _cold_," Doren muttered.

"Ah! I shouldn't waste anymore time! I must go. The faster I get there the better. Verl raced back to the woods to get ready.

"That was interesting. And I'm terribly sorry about Kendra," Newel and Doren sympathized.

Seth sighed. "It's fine."

It seemed like no matter how much he tried to forget, even for a moment, the matter about Kendra would always worm its way back.

*.*.*.*

Gavin looked and listened through the keyhole.

"You know how I have the power to read minds when I touch someone's hand and everything. So I always knew what you were thinking, about me about how you felt, everything," Bracken started. "Like do you remember the time when Stan let you go back to your other home and you introduced me to your friends? I knew you were nervous that I might not like your friends or vice versa. And you were happy when we all got along."

Bracken smiled. "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself already. I'm going to go back all the way when we first met, back in the Sphinx's prison. You were shining so brightly and I was fascinated by you. You probably already knew that since it was likely that it was written all over my face. I was barely able to answer your questions about where Seth was because I was stuck…in wonder. And honestly speaking, you weren't like other girls, fawning over my looks and trying to get all close to me. I'm not trying to brag or anything. But you were true and I knew you weren't a girl that liked for looks."

_Wow, this unicorn's all modest. It sounds really exaggerated though. Trying to win her over._ Gavin rolled his eyes, but then frowned. Had he already won her over? No. He had time still. They weren't married yet and she wasn't immortal yet—nothing that would be a dead end for him.

"Do you remember that Ping-Pong joke that I told you when we were in the cell? I don't think you get it even to this day. But anyway, right after I said you were brilliant, and you asked if that was sarcasm. I said I meant that brilliant means shiny. I was lying. Brilliant back then meant shiny, yes, but also, exotic, wondrous…beautiful." Bracken sighed and rubbed the palm of her hand.

"I was glad when you finally trusted me. It helped my case you know. Trying to impress you and awe you and all that. You certainly weren't impressed by me being a unicorn. Then we met up again with Warren. Seriously, at first I thought you and Warren…nevermind. I'll just say that it was a relief when I looked into Warren's mind that you guys weren't what I thought it was and that he had a different interest in someone else. Whom I'm sure you know who."

_Ah, learning new things every day. Vanessa and Warren had feelings for each other long before, _Gavin thought. He eased himself on the ground right next to the door. It was tiring to keep crouching. He leaned back his head so it was touching the wall and decided to only look in the keyhole every now and then. He did so now.

"I'll skip past a few things now. But through that whole adventure we went through together with Warren and them, I thought the whole time that you were one of the bravest and smartest out of all of us out there. You killed the demon king on your own and you never gave up on any account."

_Smothering her with compliments. How many girls did he do this with…?_

"You know, the funny thing is, was that I was planning on telling you my feelings and all that stuff after the Zzyzx problem was finished. Really, I wasn't even sure what I felt then. I knew for sure that I admired you and I cared about you…but how much? I only realized it when Vanessa lashed out on me. I only denied it purely because of all the people around watching me. And I was tangled in my own thoughts. So I didn't approach you about my thoughts earlier. I waited. But only because you always had someone with you."

Groan from Gavin. But of course, it was inward so he wouldn't be heard.

"When I finally got you alone, I also held your hand so I knew what you were feeling. That's cheating I know but I had to play it safe. If you didn't feel the same way then…it would be easier to stop sooner. For both of us, really. You didn't know how relieved and glad I was when I found out that you harbored some feelings for me. The whole time I kept you close when we were sailing, because I was scared. I get scared too. I was scared that that was the last time I would see you." Bracken coughed a bit.

"So we survived and I lived in the new fairy shrine in Fablehaven—we got that all covered. So I'll skip to a little later when I asked you about past guys. Remember how I held your hand that time? Know you know the obvious reason as to why I did that. I knew that you were hesitant to tell me something. You've had crushes on other people before: your teacher, Mr. Powell…and a few boys." He chuckled. "Yeah, I secretly already knew. But the whole time I was glad to hear that you've never been in a serious relationship before."

_A crush on a teacher, huh? Wonder who those 'few boys' she liked were…._

Bracken cradled her hand in his and turned it over many times. "And then you told me about the whole Gavin thing."

_Wait…what?_

"I knew that you had a pretty strong crush on him since you went through a lot together. Yeah I knew. You guys wrote letters, fought together, worked together in Wyrmroost. All of those things were things to be jealous of. Things to want to do the same with you. When you first told me about all this I was jealous of Gavin. I hate admitting to it." Sigh. "The betrayal was really hard on you," Bracken continued. "But you took it really hard when he told you he was Navarog. You thought he could become your boyfriend too…I was angry when I saw that through your mind. I think I practically killed your fingers just by squeezing your hand."

This was way too much. Bracken—the unicorn who disliked him and wanted him to stay as far away from Kendra as possible—was jealous of _him_. But that was nothing compared to the other things he said. Kendra had really liked him. Wanted him to be her boyfriend—the whole thing. And what did he do? He ruined it. _If only I could turn back time…if only I had realized things sooner…like my actual feelings for one…._

"So after we had that talk I did everything to overachieve Gavin and make you forget about him. Like on your sixteenth birthday. Remember when I made the fairies lead you to that field near the shrine? And we had a wonderful picnic with the flowers and everything? I felt as if it was my birthday too. And you were the present. You know, I was actually worried and anxious and scared that time all the same. Why? I was scared you wouldn't like it. And as sad as this sounds, I had no idea what to wear, what to do, or anything. But you were my inspiration to pull through and just do it.

"A few months after that I had to leave to go with the Fairy Queen to another shrine. I was gone for about a month I think. One of the longest months of my life. Before I left I took something from Fablehaven. A picture from a frame in the dinette. I don't know if anyone noticed it but I'm pretty sure you did, but didn't say anything. Anyway, I took the picture so that I wouldn't miss you as much…but of course I still missed you. But your picture—or should I say you—was my motivation to go on with going to the shrine and doing what I had to do. When I was scared or unsure all I had to do was look at the picture and—Walla!—my troubles were gone. And look even though that was around a year ago, I couldn't help but keep it." Bracken gingerly slipped a folding paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out. It was a picture of Kendra smiling and sitting on the grass with flowers scattered around her. It was a nice picture.

Gavin kind of wanted a picture of his own…

"All I'm trying to say is, you've been my inspiration from the start. I know, no originality, but these are truly the words to use. Even from then until now I'm not as perfect and sure as I always let myself look from the outside. I get scared and worried and anxious all because of you…yet I can become strong and confident because of you even so. And that's probably the reason why…I love you so much."

Gavin froze in his seat and held his breath.

"So don't die okay? If you do, who's going to be my motivation? What will I have to return to from trips and missions—nothing. If you're gone…I'm going to have nothing. I've had to part with other people before but it's never been as hard as this. So don't make it a first time okay? Don't leave me alone. I need you with me here." A tear slid down Bracken cheek and glistened.

Gavin listened for more. But nothing came. Bracken hadn't continued. Gavin slowly lifted himself into a crouching position and peeked through the keyhole. His eyes widened.

Bracken was leaning his face down to Kendra's. For a kiss.

No. No. No. No. He wasn't going to let this happen.

Bracken's face was only an inch apart from Kendra's. He leaned down a bit more towards her lips and…

The door was flung open by Gavin.

By reflex, Bracken shot backwards away from Kendra and moved all the way back into his seat. When he saw the newcomer, he stood up and glared. "What are you doing here?"

Gavin thought quickly. "It's my watch, Unicorn."

"Is it?" Bracken glanced over to a clock. "You're fifteen minutes early."

"So?"

"It's still my watch. You can leave now. I'll call you when it's your turn." Bracken lowered himself back into his chair and waited for Gavin to leave.

But Gavin wasn't about to. "I don't think there should be a problem with me waiting here is there?"

"And what if there is?"

"In my opinion, I don't think there is so I'll watch with you." Gavin walked closer to Kendra's bed and Bracken.

Bracken stood up again. "What is your problem? I don't think it'll be that difficult to wait outside. I have it perfectly handled here."

Gavin scoffed. "Right. How do I know that you can be trusted to watch over Kendra?"

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"

"No, because I wasn't the one trying to make a move on her…was I?"

Bracken froze. "That's none of your business."

"Uh huh. I don't care. Let me ask you this: are you even her boyfriend?"

No answer.

"I didn't think so."

"What's it to you?" Bracken shot back. "Why do you even care?"

It was Gavin's turn to become silent.

Bracken didn't back down. "Weren't you the one who betrayed her without a second thought? Didn't you hurt her friends and especially hurt her?"

"I was wrong. I made mistakes. But you don't know anything about me or why I did what I did. And now I'm here to make up for my actions. I owe you nothing so it's none of your business."

"It is my business. If it has something to do with Kendra it has something to do with me!" He strode over to Gavin and grabbed the front of his shirt. He yanked it towards him until their faces were only mere centimeters apart.

Gavin tried pulling away but his shirt was way too knotted in his fist. The only choice Gavin had left was to stare right back into Bracken's silver blue eyes.

"Don't ever think that you can make everything all better. 'Cause it won't be," Bracken said. "I'm not gonna let you."

"If you think _you_ can stop me, you have no idea who you're up against." Gavin defiantly stared him down.

"Neither do you." With a disgusted look on his face, he pushed him back.

A knock came at the door. "Everything alright in there?"

"Just fine," Gavin called through gritted teeth. Footsteps were heard pounding down the stairs.

Bracken looked back at Gavin who was warily watching him. "If you decide to do something, don't say I didn't warn you." With that Bracken left the room without closing the door.

Gavin stared at the empty doorway and then back to Kendra. "And don't say I didn't warn _you_."

* * *

><p><strong>At last! I found the time to finish this chapter. I hope you liked it this time and hoped things weren't moving too quickly. Some friction's coming up between Bracken and Gavin…and don't forget Dana and Seth!<strong>

**This chapter actually contained real parts from the original Fablehaven story by Brandon Mull, like the Ping-Pong joke. I myself don't get the joke…probably because I'm not a unicorn. But if you're thinking of flipping through book #5 and looking for the part where they talk about Gavin…don't. I made that up. Along with many others :)**

**School's starting tomorrow for me :( and I probably won't update soon like I said before. I don't know if I can fit writing in the weekends but I'll try. I might just discontinue this…..TT^TT….just kidding! I'll finish this story up. And there's still a lot more chapters to come. XD **

**Also, thank you again to the readers and the reviewers!**

—**aznbooklover **


	15. Another Gavin Story

**A/N: Must have been a while since I've updated, huh? Lately, I've had a lot of homework and projects I've been working on…and I have to admit, I've been getting lazy with typing. But I'm back! So here's the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Haven't done this in a while so I might as well do it again: I don't own anything except a few of the characters, but everything is from or based on Brandon Mull's original series. If you have no clue what I'm talking about then…that's a problem.**

**Preview:**

_Bracken looked back at Gavin who was warily watching him. "If you decide to do something, don't say I didn't warn you." With that Bracken left the room without closing the door._

_Gavin stared at the empty doorway and then back to Kendra. "And don't say I didn't warn _you_."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

_He was the only one there. Or was he? Yes, he was. She could sense him. Very close. In his usual spot. Talking. _

_It was a relief. These past two years…she was completely clueless. What was he thinking? What had he felt that time? All those questions had wandered her mind for two years. And all were directed at Bracken. His face for her was like a wall. A barrier that even she couldn't break down. And it troubled her. He was just so perfect. _

_But he wasn't. If there was a lock on the door to his real self, Bracken had just given her the key._

_Strange how that all works out._

_She listened and listened through the whole thing and if she had been able to, then she would've blushed nonstop. She was probably blushing right that moment._

_After much of the talking had gone by, he had slowed down. There were more pauses; he must be finishing up his speech. And then she sensed something. He was leaning down towards her…closer…closer…._

_Then it was done. There was a shift of wind indicating that he had moved back quickly. And not to mention the door slamming open, and someone walking in._

_Gavin's voice? It couldn't be that he…_

_And then they argued. About the watches and waiting outside and…her?_

_They were talking about how Gavin had hurt her and him trying to gain everything back. He went on about his mistakes and the fact that he regretted them. What was she supposed to think? Was this even real?_

_Bracken was threatening Gavin now to stay away from her. And he was answering back. On and off, on and off. She couldn't do anything, obviously. _

"_Right. How do I know that you can be trusted to watch over Kendra?"_

"_Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"_

"_No, because I wasn't the one trying to make a move on her…was I?"_

_Pause. "That's none of your business."_

"_Uh huh. I don't care. Let me ask you this: are you even her boyfriend?"_

_No answer._

"_I didn't think so."_

_She didn't say anything. It was true wasn't it though? They didn't have an official relationship. He had never said to her face, 'Kendra, will you be my girlfriend?' Not even a, 'Will you go out with me?'_

"_What's it to you? Why do you even care?"_

_A question she couldn't answer herself…_

"_Weren't you the one who betrayed her without a second thought? Didn't you hurt her friends and especially hurt her?"_

"_I was wrong. I made mistakes. I'm here to make for it okay? And that's none of your business."_

"_It is my business. If it has something to do with Kendra it has something to do with me!"_

_She could sense that Bracken had increased the distance between them and decreased the distance between him and Gavin._

"_Stop it," she whispered desperately. It seemed strange that only a few moments ago she was blushing, and was about to be kissed. Now they were fighting._

"_Don't ever think that you can make everything all better. 'Cause it won't be," Bracken said. "I'm not gonna let you."_

"_If you think you can stop me, you have no idea who you're up against."_

"_Neither do you."_

_Threats?_

_There was a knock, a slip of reassurance and footsteps outside. _

"_If you decide to do something, don't say I didn't warn you." Someone—Bracken by the sound of it—left the room._

"_And don't say I didn't warn you." Gavin._

_She slumped down. What was happening there without her? How had it come to all this? She didn't want to answer that—she already knew, and she didn't like it. Could she do anything about it? She hated this answer more…because it was no._

_*.*.*.*_

Seth and Warren came in often to check up on Kendra's progress. They would stay for a few minutes before moving on.

Warren gently closed the attic room door as Seth ran back to the field. He cleared his throat. "Now that that's finished let's go back to the watches. Gavin, it should be your turn in a few minutes…why are you already here?"

Gavin didn't answer but instead took his place at the chair next to Kendra's and looked down at her face. His hands fidgeted.

"Okay, then. Where's Bracken?"

"Who knows?" Gavin answered grumpily. He still hadn't looked up.

Warren sighed. "Fine, I'll go look for him. I need to tell him that Vanessa and I…nevermind." Warren noticed that Gavin didn't seem to be listening. Without another word, he walked out of the attic room.

He was finally alone with Kendra. Well, the only reason he was was because Bracken needed to cool off and Warren had something to do with Vanessa apparently. Yes, he was listening. But he pretended not to so Warren would take the hint.

He wrung his hands over and over. How was Bracken so casually able to hold her hand and touch her forehead and whatever? Maybe unicorns had it easier.

There was an awkward silence in the air. No one was around…so what harm did talking do?

"It's me." What kind of stupid opening was that? Ironically, every time he'd read a book or something, the top stupid thing he thought as a conversation opening was: 'It's me.' Look at him now.

Gavin looked awkwardly across the room. _How can talking to an unconscious person be more intimidating than talking to a conscious person?_ he thought.

"I heard Bracken talking to you." Straight to the point. Good. "He's pretty…hardcore. Ahem. What I mean to say is that in all the two years I've been gone, you've been well cared for. And now that I'm here, it looks like I'm a bit of a negative force or something. Ha. But…it's not like I'm going anywhere. No matter what you say, or how much you hate me, I don't care 'cause I'm here to stay."

He relaxed. This was getting easier as time passed. "Look. Like I said, I heard Bracken explaining things to you and all that…and I'm about to do the same. I know you already had to hear the unicorn's speech, but I need to tell you mine too before it's too late. Bear with me, okay? I probably don't have as much of a right as the unicorn…" Okay, he was too relaxed now. If the poison didn't kill her, her boredom of having to hear him talk would.

"My talk with you isn't like Bracken's. Now isn't the time to talk about how my life after meeting you was for me. No, I'm talking about why I did the things I did. My talk with you is going to be my story, like how Cain told his." He took a deep breath and got ready to start.

"When I was first born, my mother died…or for all I know, she could have abandoned me. Never knew her, and I didn't and don't want to. You probably think that I should give her a chance, but I would give her a harder life if she knew me. Anyway, my mother was part demon. Just a bit of demon somewhere in that blood of hers. No idea what demon, but her blood was demonic. People said that it's rare that a human would breed with a demon. But it happened.

"So you know about my mother, so the obvious question is…where's the father? Well, I killed him. Wait, no," Gavin stopped. "I'll start again. My father was a dragon. I only found that out when I was 8 years old and I doubt my mom knew that before she had me. He disguised himself in his human form and set out to look for my mother. He wanted to find her and make her fall in love with him. He knew about my mother's demonic blood and her humane form and thought of this as a rare find indeed.

"It is known that a hybrid of demon and human is powerful, but mixed together with another species, especially a strong one, can result in someone even more powerful. He wanted to have a child—preferably a son—who would be this almighty powerful one."

Gavin coughed slightly. "After long periods of time looking, he finally hunted down my mother. She was decent-looking and she had a cold heart. After patient, long months of wooing her and starting from a friend to a lover, my mother fell in love with my father. Being the heartless monster he was, my father didn't love my mother back. Shortly after, my mother became pregnant. With me. My father waited longer times for me to come out. When I did, he was glad and victorious. He had a powerful son and his plans had been fulfilled. He tried to take me away from my mother so he could finish off his plans. And his plans didn't include her. Eventually, my father just went out and said what he had _really _wanted from her. My mother was angry and heart was made of stone once more. She wouldn't give me up to him, but not for the reasons you think. It was probably mostly because she just didn't want my father to triumph in the end.

"This is the part where I'm not entirely sure what happened. Either my father killed my mother to get her out of the way or my father left and my mother abandoned me. Wouldn't she want to protect me from my father? No. I look somewhat like my father, and she probably hated me because of the resemblance."

Gavin had absently rubbed his face with his fingers as if _feeling_ what he looked like. "So in the end, I became an orphan…both parents had left me anyway. A dragon tamer somehow found me later on—his name was Eoin. He was the one who took care of me since I was a little baby. So 8 years later, I grew up knowing that I was an orphan, but I barely knew anything about my past and neither did Eoin. At that time, I didn't think about my parents or anything other than the things Eoin taught me. I only knew about the magical world and defense. That was before my father showed up.

"When I was 13, I was out in town. I had to go into this store and my dad was there…"

**Flashback**

_Gavin walked into the store. It was the only store that secretly sold magical items and knew about the magical world in the little town that he lived in. It was isolated and populated few. And only a handful of the people knew about magic._

_He looked at the normal rows of apples and oranges and tossed an apple up in his hand._

"_You like apples?"_

_Gavin turned around and almost dropped the apple. "What?"_

_A tall dark man stood behind him. He was smiling…in a kind of a somewhat intimidating way. "The apples. You like them?"_

"_Oh, uh…I…not really."_

_The man considered him for a while. Gavin put the apple back down but the man picked the same one up again. "Hmm. You are like me."_

_The man glanced at Gavin for an answer but Gavin was just staring back blankly. He smiled once again. "Want me to show you something?"_

"_Show me something?"_

"_Yes, with this apple. Want to see?"_

_Gavin shrugged back but curiosity glowed in his eyes. _

_The man took that was confirming so he placed the apple on top of his palm. His eyes quickly flashed gold as he gently blew on the apple. If you looked closely enough, as Gavin did, you could see small flames flowing from his mouth and onto the apple. At first, the apple was incased in flames, but soon the fire burned the apple slowly into a crisp. A black figure was the only thing left in his palm now._

_Gavin's eyes were like saucers. "Whoa."_

_The man chuckled. "Did you like it?" Gavin nodded. "Do you know how I did it?"_

"_No."_

"_Would you like to know?"_

_Gavin hesitated. "Did you use magic?"_

"_Magic? In a way…So do you want to know?"_

"…_yes."_

_Smile. "Alright. Have you ever heard about the magic world?"_

"_Yes! So you did use magic!"_

"_Somewhat. Have you ever heard of dragons?"_

"_Dragons?" Gavin asked. He had heard a bit about them. There were the ones in Wyrmroost and others. They could transform into a human body… "Are you a dragon sir?"_

_The man looked surprised. "You are a quick one aren't you? Did it seem obvious already?"_

_Shrug._

"_Well, what if I told you we are alike?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_What if I told you that you could possibly learn to do the trick I did? What if I said you were a dragon like me?"_

_Gavin gasped. "Am I?"_

"_Yes you are."_

_Gavin took this all in. A dragon? Him? That couldn't be possible. Yet it could. He had been having strange feelings lately. Eoin suggested that it was all part of growing up but it seemed different. "But how…?"_

"_Your father was a dragon. You inherited your dragon traits from him."_

"_Wha—wait…my father?"_

"_Yes, Gavin."_

_Gavin froze. "How do you know my name? I don't even know _your_ name. Who are you?"_

_The man just laughed. "My name is Lucian."_

"_Lucian who?"_

"_I do not have a last name."_

"_Fine…but who are you? And how do you know my name?"_

"_What kind of father doesn't know his son's name? Yes, Gavin, I am the one who gave you your dragon blood, and also your name. I am your father."_

**End of Flashback**

"I'm gonna skip a bit here…you don't want to hear everything he taught about my dragon heritage. I'll just put it in a nutshell: my grandparents were one of the ancient dragons that first came to the magic world. And it passed down to my dad, blah, and so on.

"Back to my point. Well. So I met my dad. It was weird, having a dad. But somewhat comforting. I kept it a secret from Eoin but I know that Eoin suspected something during the times I would be 'far off' or left the house for longer times than I was supposed to. I told him eventually.

Gavin sighed and looked down at Kendra's face. No reaction at all. Hm.

"Months after I had met my father, I soon developed a lot of powers or some powers revealed itself. I had learned a lot about being a dragon from him.

"Then it happened that fall. I was…14 I think. I was once again visiting my father. I was supposed to learn more about the dragon ancestry. It was quiet that night…"

**Flashback**

"_Dad?" Gavin threw his jacket over a chair and looked around. The cabin his father lived in was quieter than usual and only half as lit as it was supposed to be. The rooms on the side were dark and threatening. But Gavin wasn't scared._

_There was a light in his dad's study. He went inside to check if he was there. He might have not heard him knock._

_He walked in and his footsteps tapped on the wooden floor. He opened the door and looked in. No one. But he continued walking in anyway; something caught his eye. Gavin looked over at the bedside table where an apple was sitting there. Fire wrapped around it. It reminded him of their first meeting at the store._

_All of a sudden he could hear someone coming closer. The light from the fire reflected off something shiny. A knife!_

_Gavin remembered something Eoin had once told him in one of his defense lessons. "Always wait until the last moment to strike. There is a difference between the first strike and the strike that will give you the upper hand."_

_So just before the person could plunge the knife into his back, he dodged over to the left side and his hand shot out to catch the man's arm. He twisted, and with a yelp of pain the man dropped the knife. Yanking his arm, Gavin turned the man to see his face. And gasped._

"_Dad? What are you doing?"_

_His dad sneered and shook himself out of Gavin's grasp. "I never taught you self defense. For a reason."_

"_Eoin taught me," he answered shakily. What was happening here?_

"_Ah, yes," Lucian spat. "Your caretaker. Should have put him into account."_

"_What were you trying to do?" He really didn't want to know the answer._

"_I guess I give you too much credit," his father retorted with an ugly grimace. His face had contorted into one he had never seen before. "Since you aren't so smart I'll just have to tell you. I was trying to kill you."_

_Gavin's heart stopped. "But…why?"_

"_So I could eat you," he spat._

"_Eat me?"_

_Lucian chuckled evilly. "Mm-hm. I have a theory you see. If I eat you, I can gain the power you have in your blood. Your demon blood."_

"_Wait…I don't understand. What demon—"_

"_Your demon blood!" he snarled. "From your demon mother! Being the son of a dragon and a part demon is a gift of power. But that power is useless to me if it is only in you!"_

"_Power...?"_

_Lucian circled around him. "Power! Did you not know? The whole reason I have trained you all these months was solely because if you awaken the power inside you, and I eat you, the power will be open for me to awaken. This power…yes, very strong. Too much for you to handle. No, too valuable for a mere boy for you to handle."_

_Gavin closed his eyes and shook his head madly. "You would sacrifice your son for this power?"_

"_Yes! You are useless to me. If you didn't have demon blood in you then I wouldn't have had you in the first place. This could barely be called a sacrifice. I don't regret this at all. And this power. It would give me heightened strength, the power to heal, and much much more!"_

"_But…I'm your _son_," Gavin said desperately._

_His father sneered. "Only through blood. But to me, you are just my tool. I used you. And I will use you once more to get MY power!"_

_Lucian lunged at Gavin and managed to topple him over. Still pinning him down, Lucian reached for the knife that had been dropped near the bedside table. But Gavin had longer arms and still managed to push it once again out of his grasp. He kneed his father off of him and pushed his father into a table, making him break it. His father moved slightly, but didn't get up._

_Gavin took this as his chance and ran out of the cabin. He tore through the woods, his breath coming out in thick gasps. _My father tried to kill me. My father tried to kill me, _he thought repeatedly._

_He didn't stop running until his shirt was soaked with sweat and he reached a steep cliff—a place he went to often. He just sat there with no reaction to anything. He collapsed near the edge of the cliff and looked at the cloudy sky._

_His thoughts were muddled and flew in different directions. Moonlight shone from behind him and showed his shadow._

_All of a sudden, from the corner of his eye, Gavin could see a shadow stalking towards him. He didn't even have to guess who it was. Attached to the arm of the figure was a longish object. The knife. _

_Soon the shadow was only yard away from him. And it came closer. As it did, his father snarled, "This ends now!"_

_Once again, Lucian lunged with the knife poised at Gavin's heart. But also once again, Gavin twisted his body around and caught his arm. With a snarl of his own, not unlike his father's, he answered, "And I'm the one ending it!"_

_Gavin, still holding the arm, went on his back and with great strength lifted his father off his feet and threw him off the edge of the cliff. _

_With his arms hanging off the edge of the cliff above his head and him gasping for air on his back, he listened as the screams of his father ended with a thud._

**End of flashback**

"You could say I killed him. But as the 'killer', I testify that it was all out of self defense," Gavin sighed. "I told Eoin everything that happened that night and everything before. He forgave me, and we told no one anything. This is actually the first time I've brought this up since that night. It helps to tell."

Gavin placed Kendra's hands on her stomach and watched her peacefully sleep. "What I told you was only the beginning of my story…I'll finish it tomorrow maybe. Bear with me until then." Leaning down he kissed the tops of her fingers.

Soon, Vanessa came in along with Warren for her watch. But before he left, he could've sworn that he saw Kendra's fingers twitch. Maybe in anticipation for his next watch.

* * *

><p><strong>Longest chapter ever in ROTDP! So far at least. So I finally got this chapter done. I hope I won't be making you readers wait too long for the next one. You've waited long enough for this one. Sorry again for the wait!<strong>

**So we know a bit about Gavin's past. I hope this chapter doesn't contradict with things already said in the original series. If it does review or PM!**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and suggestions for future events are welcome:). **

**Thanks for past reviews and for sticking with me on this journey! Byez!**

—**aznbooklover **


	16. Their Little Story

**A/N: I've had no time whatsoever to write until now. And I'm probably writing this in parts…also of course, I'm being lazy again. Please comment, read, and whatnot!**

**Preview:**

_Gavin placed Kendra's hands on her stomach and watched her peacefully sleep. "What I told you was only the beginning of my story…I'll finish it tomorrow maybe. Bear with me until then." Leaning down he kissed the tops of her fingers._

_Soon, Vanessa came in along with Warren for her watch. But before he left, he could've sworn that he saw Kendra's fingers twitch. Maybe in anticipation for his next watch._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

_She didn't get it. Not at all. First he was almost about to kill everyone in Wyrmroost, then he was getting eaten by Raxtus, only to find out that he was actually still alive. And he came back to Fablehaven….for help. Then she was here….and he was telling her his life story._

_It just didn't seem right. The bad guy having a sad depressing story and telling the "damsel in distress"? Yeah, no. _

_But was he even the bad guy?_

_When he was saying his story she had sat back and listened. She had to admit, before he had even started, she thought that he was having a confession session for his love or something. Absurd. _

"_Look. Like I said, I heard Bracken explaining things to you and all that…and I'm about to do the same. I know you already had to hear the unicorn's speech, but I need to tell you mine too before it's too late. Bear with me, okay? I probably don't have as much of a right as the unicorn…"_

_If she could, she probably would've blushed._

_He was right…but she couldn't help but want to listen. Even if she didn't want to, what was she going to do, plug her ears for about a good hour?_

_As he talked, her guard went down and she listened intently. When she had heard the words saying that he had killed his father, her guard was immediately up again. But when he told her the actual scene of how it really happened, she pitied him. She was lucky to have a father who loved her for who she was, and not killing her for it._

_She had no idea how much time had passed. But she didn't care._

"_What I told you was only the beginning of my story…I'll finish it tomorrow maybe. Bear with me until then."_

_Then he did the unexpected. He kissed her fingers. She was shocked. The pressure on her hands felt weird; that strange "pressure" was from Gavin….._

_Silence._

_Unconsciously, she wiggled her fingers, with a thoughtful look on her face._

*.*.*.*

Bracken hadn't gone back up to the attic yet. He was sitting near the fairy shrine where he usually met up with Kendra. He leaned back until his back was touching the ground.

He looked in the direction of the woods where Bracken had found Kendra, right after she had found Gavin. He looked long and hard at the woods before turning his head back up to the cloudy sky.

_If Kendra had never found Gavin in the woods, would things have been easier? _Bracken thought. _Or what if Raxtus had eaten the real Gavin? Would things have been very different now? _

No. It was wrong, he knew it. To blame Gavin for everything that happened. It actually wasn't his fault really. He just was looking for someone to blame for all of this. But there was something he could blame Gavin for.

He was getting _way_ too close to Kendra for his liking.

He didn't get Gavin. Like how he just came into the attic room when he was about to…well, you know. He couldn't stand having to have to stay with him during his watch. Who could?

Bracken shook his head and sat up. This was wrong. Kendra's needs were more important than his right now. No, her needs were more important than his. Period.

He brushed himself off and stood up, looking towards the main house. He had to man up and show Gavin what he was against. And he had already said that he had warned him right? So it was his duty to show Gavin just how bad he could be…kind of.

*.*.*.*

Gavin leaned back on the headrest of his bed. He had finally let it all out. Of course, he wasn't done with his whole story yet, but it was a start. He felt comfortable talking with unconscious Kendra. Maybe he could do the same thing if she woke up. Wait, _when_ she wakes up. She will wake up.

There was only one problem. Bracken. That million year old unicorn. He was in the way of his plans. They weren't bad plans…just plans.

His next watch wasn't until 7 hours later. He had taken a quick nap since he was tired and hadn't had a good sleep in an actual bed since a few days ago. And now that he was recharged and ready to go, Gavin had nothing to do now. He could wait…

But he was going to go over what he was going to say to Kendra at his next watch. The truth, obviously, but he was going to think before talking. He remembered how he accidentally straight out said that he killed his father. Thank goodness he cleared that up. He hoped he did anyway.

*.*.*.*

_No one had said anything in a while. Since no one was talking, she had no idea who was watching over her now._ _She paced and waited for something to happen. When was Bracken coming? Or Gavin?_

_She sighed. Would anything get better? She wanted to go and—_

_It HURT. A lot. She yelled out in pain and collapsed onto the ground. Her heart felt like it was being twisted over and over again and lit it on fire. It was filling up with something—poison. She wanted it to stop. Her nails clawed at her chest in desperation to stop the burning. _

_Next, her head was filling up with images of Bahumat, the Demon King, the opening of Zzyzx, seeing Lena die as she destroyed Ephira, watching Tammy tumble off Painted Mesa…_

_Her lungs weren't working either. She was on the floor gasping for breath, and every breath was smaller and more desperate than the one before. Her legs were thrashing all over the place and her heels continuously smashed into the dark floor._

_If this was what dying felt like, she would rather die than continue like this._

*.*.*.*

Bracken was next for watching Kendra. He had about 15 minutes before his watch. Hours must have passed by; he hadn't thought about sleeping ever since Kendra had entered eternal sleep. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

He had a dream about some things…Warren and Vanessa and Gavin and Kendra. Some parts were very interesting, while others made him want to rip his eyes out. Or maybe Gavin's eyes.

Since that dream, he decided something—he was going to have a little chat with Gavin.

Bracken got up and stretched a moment before stalking over to the main house and up the stairs. He paused only momentarily to look over to the attic room door before walking over to Gavin's room and knocking. Although he didn't like Gavin, he still had some manners left to show him.

"Uh…come in," Gavin's voice said.

Clearing his throat, Bracken stepped in to see Gavin drying off his wet hair. Gavin looked up to see who was at the door and he stopped suddenly. "Unicorn? What do you want?" he asked, a scowl crossing his face.

"You're not very welcoming are you?" Forget manners.

"What do you want? Seriously."

"Just to talk."

"Not about the weather I'm guessing," he said flipping his towel over his shoulder.

"No."

Sitting on his bed Gavin smirked. "Let me guess, you want to talk about Kendra."

Bracken closed the door and leaned against it. "Congratulations, you guessed right. I'll cut to the chase: stay away from Kendra, okay?"

"Or what? You're going to use your sparkly unicorn fairy powers on me?" Gavin laughed. "Or are you going to tell the Queen on me—"

"The Fairy Queen isn't part of this. This is between you, me and Kendra. And second of all, my powers are anything but sparkly. Right now, I could beat you to a pulp."

"Oo, I'm so scared."

Bracken tried to keep his voice even. "Honestly, what do you want with Kendra? Her forgiveness? Her trust?"

Gavin didn't answer. He just stared at Bracken.

"Why don't you just say all of your sorrys and go? Knowing her, she'll forgive you…one day."

"What if that's not good enough for me?" Gavin taunted. "What if I'm not just after her trust or forgiveness? What if I told you that I wanted more than that?"

_What is he talking about? _Bracken thought. He froze. _Don't tell me…._

"You…?"

"Introducing your new competition for Kendra's affections: Gavin, Prince of the Dragons." He stood up with a smile plastered on his face.

At first, Bracken was completely silent and stood at the door with no reaction whatsoever displayed on his face. But then his brows knitted together and his jaw was taut. "She won't choose you."

"You can't say that. You don't know what can happen. May the best man win her heart. It's all fair. I'm not going to throw you under the bus or anything. I want to play fair and I want her to like me for me," Gavin answered seriously. He was telling the complete truth.

Suddenly, Bracken stalked over to Gavin and gripped his arm. Gavin could tell that he was trying to figure out is he was lying or not. When Bracken broke away, his face was as serious as Gavin's. "Fine, you're not lying. But be ready to accept that Kendra will never choose you."

"You sound so sure," Gavin said. "Don't be. Because I'm not going to listen to you when you tell me to stay away from her. Sorry, but that's not going to happen."

"Don't you think you owe it to Kendra?" Bracken shot back belligerently. "After all you did…"

Gavin's hands curled into tight fists. "Are you seriously using that against me? That's really lame."

"Even if it is lame, the fact that you hurt Kendra still stands."

"As much as you might think so, I'm not stupid. Sure, I was stupid back then. Now I don't even remember why I did what I did. But I've already tried explaining my story to Kendra."

Bracken answered, "A sob story? Trying to make her pity you? Low. Even for you."

"You already know that I want to play it fair, so don't try putting words in my mouth. I know you aren't sure anymore so you're trying to reassure yourself. Want to know another fact? You don't even have a right to tell me what to do," Gavin shot back. "Ever since I came here to Fablehaven, one question has been weighing on my mind. What are you to Kendra? What's your relationship? Best friends?"

Bracken stared blankly back at Gavin, with no answer. Gavin took that as a sign to continue.

"I know when to stop going for a girl and which lines I shouldn't cross. This isn't one of those times. You aren't her boyfriend or in any solid relationship. If this was a story, sure, you'd most likely be the love interest and I might be the extra guy. But you know what? I've read a lot of stories when the seemingly obvious love interest doesn't win the girl; the "extra" guy does."

"But this also isn't a little story is it? And I bet you, that even if it was a story, you aren't going to win Kendra in the end. Because I'm definitely not going to let you. If it's the last thing I do." Bracken tauntingly stepped closer.

A knock sounded on the door. Both stared each other down before reluctantly facing the door. "Yes?" Gavin called.

Warren came in. "Is Bracken here? Oh, there you are. We were looking for you. It's your watch."

Bracken nodded his thanks and slipped out of the room and Warren followed. Gavin looked after them before plopping back on his bed and letting out a heavy sigh.

He was going to make this one of those stories….and he was going to be that lucky extra guy.

*.*.*.*

_She had blacked out. The pain had been too much to bear and the virulent thrashing had finally been stopped when she was unconscious. Her whole body ached and she felt so tired, even though she has recently been asleep. "Water…."_

_There wasn't anything but darkness around her. She painfully sat up and cradled her arm to her chest. Her arm was the most painful thing right now and she unfortunately couldn't do anything about it._

_She used her other arm to withhold her weight while she tenderly stood up. There was no use just sitting here. And she had a strange urge to walk around. Without any knowledge of what direction she was heading in, she stumbled like a drunken sailor towards more darkness._

*.*.*.*

Bracken slumped in his chair, his chest slowly rising and falling with each slow breath. Kendra showed frail and rare signs that she was breathing, let alone being alive.

Bracken looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and wondered why time had flown so fast for his watch. Probably because he had been replaying Gavin and his conversation repeatedly in his head.

"Gavin is right though. No matter how much I hate to admit it, what he says is true. What is our relationship? Close friends…?"

But no. They were more than that, but not enough that they were in a obvious relationship. It was kind of frustrating.

"Ugh, what am I doing?" Bracken scratched his head in irritation and looked back down at Kendra's pale face. "You should be my first priority. No, you _are_ my first priority. All that I'm afraid of is that when you wake up, I won't be _your_ first priority."

*.*.*.*

_Maybe she should accept the fact that it was no use. Her legs were burning and all the walking had made the throbbing in her arm increase incredibly. She collapsed heavily on the dark ground still clutching her arm._

_As she sat down she thought about a lot of things. How was everyone? Had any updates arrived about the Cytrions? When would she leave this miserable dark pit? Would she leave this dark pit? She had millions of questions with no answers._

_Suddenly a light glowed in the distance. It was faint but still there. She sat up and stared at it. What was it? Help? But what kind of help comes in the form of a glowing orb?_

_The light was apparently coming closer. Thank goodness because she was so exhausted that she wouldn't have the energy to approach it. She stared and watched it come closer until it hurt to look at it. Closing her eyes didn't do any good. The light seared through her eyelids and looking away wasn't a solution either. The sudden transformation from looking at darkness for days to staring at unbearable bright light couldn't be good for someone's eyes. But the fact that she was fairykind probably excluded her from being just someone. _

"_What the heck?" The brightness soon took over her vision and it was all she could see. The luminosity was there for what seemed to be hours until it slowly started to dim. _

_If she looked close enough she could see that there was something or someone standing in the middle to of light. It was a someone. A woman….strangely familiar. _

_Now she was able to open her eyes and look spot on at the person no matter the radiant rays shooting out in all direction. As the woman approached, her face contorted into one of fury. Why was she here?_

_The light was dimming quicker but it was still bright. However, her eyes were paying any attention to the brightness at all; the woman had her full attention. And not for a good reason either._

_She stood defiantly up to take the woman head on._

"_How nice to meet you, Kendra."_

_She scoffed in return. "I believe we have already met, _Angela_."_

* * *

><p><strong>It has certainly been a long long time since I last updated. Sorry for the wait:(. Hope there are still readers out there who didn't mind it so much.<strong>

**There's a new poll posted up on my profile and I hope you readers will quickly visit my profile to vote on what you think! I'll keep everyone updated on my next chapters (which I hope I will be able to update very soon).**

**This chapter wasn't as lengthy as the others, mostly because I'm planning on something big happening later on and I didn't want to cram it all in now! So for right now, its gonna be just a bunch of Gavin/Bracken fights and Kendra's activity updates. Hope the chapter wasn't too bad because of that reason.**

**Thanks to all the readers and I just hope I can make the next chapter your Christmas present! Review, PM, blah blah blah!**

—**aznbooklover **


	17. The Looking Pond

**A/N: I'm not even going to bother making up or saying excuses to explain why I haven't updated…Anyway, here's the chapter.**

**Preview:**

_The light was dimming quicker but it was still bright. However, her eyes were paying any attention to the brightness at all; the woman had her full attention. And not for a good reason either._

_She stood defiantly up to take the woman head on._

"_How nice to meet you, Kendra."_

_She scoffed in return. "I believe we have already met, _Angela_."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

"_Oh?" Angela answered with a smile. Probably a fake one._

"_Don't pretend like you don't remember me. I know you do. I'm not stupid."_

"_That's what you think, my dear little fairykind human. You are stupider than you could ever imagine."_

_She crossed her arms. "You're pathetic."_

_For a quick second, Angela's face flashed with anger. But just as suddenly as the anger showed on her face, it disappeared and her face was once again in the image of an angel's._

"_Some may say so, yet many disagree," Angela replied smoothly. _

_With inhuman grace Angela turned and glided away. "Come."_

_She didn't move. "I'm not some kind of pet you can order around."_

"Please _come."_

_A big part of her was telling her and giving her the feeling that not following her would be better. There was no point trusting someone she didn't know very well, especially when that certain person tried to turn Bracken against her. This lady—or whatever she is—was way to perfect to be human. For all she knew, Angela was going to trap her spirit or soul somewhere in the corner of her brain. She had no idea how the brain or this world she was in worked, but she could bet that Angela did. And that was to her advantage._

_Yet, curiosity couldn't help butting in through all that. It was possible that Angela had no ill intentions and all and this journey would be the answer to her current health problem. _

_Decision time._

_She didn't move a step. "Where are we going?" she asked warily._

"_Wouldn't telling our location beforehand be the wrecker of a surprise?" Angela continued gliding away without turning once._

"_Sorry, I'm not into surprises. Especially when they involve people who are Barbie dolls."_

_Angela stopped. "Barbie dolls? In many cases dolls are made to be perfect, I hear. Could this be a rare compliment coming from you?"_

_She scoffed. "In your dreams. I didn't mean perfect. Inhuman. Plastic. Fake."_

_Angela froze. "I…would prefer if you would keep your mouth shut, unless something worth my time will come out of it. Now come."_

_With that, she continued forward. However, her form did not hold the same grace as it once did._

_She stared after her. After a few moments passed, she made her decision and followed the lady surrounded by light._

_*.*.*.*_

What do you do when someone very important to you is in the deepest of trouble and you can't do anything about it?

Bracken watched Kendra's chest slowly go up and down with each raspy breath. She wondered what she was feeling. Pain? Peace?

"Why won't you wake up?" he whispered. "Just for a few minutes..."

_Knock, knock._

Bracken looked up. "Come in."

The door creaked open and Warren's head appeared in the doorway. "How is she? Anything new?"

He shook his head. "Not that I can see."

"How long has it been now?"

"A week at least. Kendra's hanging in there." Bracken glanced back down. "And I hope she still will so we have more time to find the cure. Did Tanu find anything that could help us?"

"A few theories, like battling venom with venom to neutralize the original poison. Unfortunately, he hasn't found any type of poison that could possibly be as effective or as strong as the Cytrion's poison. Also, he's actually elsewhere at the moment. The Knights of Dawn apparently needed him more than we did. Stan's contacted the Knights earlier for some more information on alternate healing techniques."

"And?"

"And nothing. They didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. We've also requested some healers that have been known to handle some really bad venom cases, but they are currently occupied."

Bracken's brows furrowed. "Occupied like Tanu? With what?"

Warren's face turned serious as he answered, "There have been attacks on other preserves and Knights of the Dawn safe houses. Even the hidden ones."

Bracken got up. "Cytrion attacks too?"

Warren scratched his head. "That's what we don't get. The other attacks were by other types of demons, like hydras…Fablehaven was the only Cytrion attack. It doesn't make any sense."

"What if they only had tree Cytrions and since we killed all three, they turned to their other monsters?" Bracken suggested.

"Possible, I guess. But the other attack demons were on a lesser danger level. On a scale from 1-10, Hydras are about an 8, and Cytrions are more of a 15," Warren replied. "Why send one of their most powerful demons on your first attack? It's not practical, especially since Fablehaven is pretty unimportant compared to the Knights of the Dawn headquarters."

"They attacked the headquarters?"

"Yes. Not successful, but some areas are now under repair and may are still injured and under intense care. Hence the fact that there are no available healers."

"No deaths?"

"They were lucky that time. Very lucky."

Bracken nodded. "Do we know who's behind the attacks?"

"We have been suspecting the Society for a while now, but we have absolutely no evidence. We were certain that we had disbanded them those 3 years back, but now we think otherwise. Whoever it is, we don't know their motive either," Warren said.

"Do you think it's them? The Society I mean?"

"I shouldn't be pointing fingers, but I agree with the rumors and it is the Society of the Evening Star. Not sure about the motive though."

Bracken frowned. "Same. But I think I know about the motive."

Warren looked surprised. "And that would be?"

"Gavin. I think they want Gavin. I mean he's here for refuge right? He's a powerful dragon—a prince at that—and if the Society really is back, then I'm sure they would want him as an ally. Again."

Warren sat down on Seth's bed with a sigh. "If that's true, what would your solution be? Kick him out, let them have him? You know we can't afford for that to happen."

"I just want Kendra to be safe," Bracken said wearily. "That's it."

"Right."

He looked up. "What?"

"You don't like Gavin very much huh?"

Bracken looked away, focusing on Kendra. "I don't trust him."

"Also known as, 'I don't like him because he's trying to steal Kendra.'" When he didn't answer, Warren continued. "I know you also don't trust him because of his betrayal, and how that hurt Kendra."

"He likes her too. Although Gavin turned on them in the Dragon Sanctuary, they had their moments together in Lost Mesa."

"But from what I've seen, you don't have to be worried. I know Kendra has strong feelings for you. I'm sure she totally forgot about Gavin in the two years you've been together," Warren assured him.

Bracken shook his head. "I know that too. But I can't help it! What if it was Vanessa in Kendra's conditions? Or if another man was pursuing her? Would you rely only on her feelings and yours to pull you through it?"

"I…don't know what I would do if Vanessa was in Kendra's position. However, if there was another man out there, I would trust her and her choices. I mean, we're together, and that's enough for me."

"But that's the problem. Kendra's not my girlfriend, and I'm not her boyfriend. So how can I be sure?"

*.*.*.*

Gavin looked out the window, where he could see Ruth and Hank talking to a group of three centaurs. He didn't recognize any of them. Then again he hadn't exactly met any of the Fablehaven centaurs. He warily watched the centaurs give a short bow to Ruth and Hank before galloping off.

Raking his fingers threw his unruly dark hair, he yanked open his door and quietly headed towards the stairs. As he passed by the attic room he stopped as he heard Warren and Bracken's voices.

"I shouldn't be pointing fingers, but I agree with the rumors that it is the Society of the Evening Star. Not sure about the motive though."

"Same. But I think I know about the motive."

"And that would be?"

"Gavin. I think they want Gavin. I mean he's here for refuge right? He's a powerful dragon—a prince at that—and if the Society really is back, then I'm sure they would want him as an ally. Again."

Gavin froze. Bracken was blaming him? For a few moments, he thought to himself. _Does Warren agree that I caused the attacks? Are they going to make me leave?_

He tuned back into the conversation.

"I…don't know what I would do if Vanessa was in Kendra's position. However, if there was another man out there, I would trust her and her choices. I mean, we're together, and that's enough for me." Warren.

"But that's the problem. Kendra's not my girlfriend, and I'm not her boyfriend. So how can I be sure?"

Sure of what? He wanted to listen to more, but decided against it. He would eventually find out probably. Anyway, he doubted it was anything major.

Gavin slowly backed away from the door and continued his way to the stairs. Before descending all the way, he met up with Ruth, who was looking at a paper in her hand.

"Did you talk to the centaurs just now?" Gavin asked.

Ruth looked up at him. "Oh, yes. It seems the centaurs don't have a solution for us either. We asked for any information that could possibly help us, but they only said what they've heard in legends and stories. Nothing's for certain."

"But didn't we willingly give Kendra the relics in the first place without truly knowing the full extent to their powers?"

"Yes, but that was only because we couldn't use up any more time experimenting with them. It would have taken days…and at the moment we didn't have that long," she answered with a sigh. She glanced back down at her paper. "If you don't mind, I have to go find Hank. Seth and Kendra's parents have sent a message from their cruise."

Gavin was surprised. "You've informed them of Kendra's…condition? Why aren't they already back here?"

"We have no choice. They are her parents and it would be wrong to hide it from them," Ruth said wearily. "Of course, it makes it easier that they already know about Fablehaven's true identity. As for their absence, they are on the other side of the world, and the bad news is in the telegram. I really must go."

Gavin nodded and continued downstairs, where he bumped into Vanessa. "Gavin," she greeted him. "I don't suppose you've seen Warren..?"

"With Bracken, in the attic room."

"Thanks." She looked at her watch on her wrist. "Warren and I have plans to go somewhere. We're leaving in a few minutes. So we won't be there for our watches on Kendra."

"Where are you going?"

"Hidden branches of the Knights of the Dawn. The attacks are increasing rapidly and they need back-up," she said quickly. "And ancient artifacts and relics are stored there. We can't allow them to go into the wrong hands."

"They only called for you to come?"

"Have you not noticed? Victor, Trask, and Elise have been called for back-up. Tanu is working as a healer and pharmacist there."

No, he had not. "I've been busier lately…did Dana go too?"

Vanessa glanced out a window. "No, she's too young; she's only fifteen. She's been hanging with Seth and the satyrs more often every day. And I think it's good that Seth has someone his age that can work as a distraction."

"Distraction from Kendra I'm guessing?"

Vanessa nodded.

Gavin looked over her head to try to peek into the other rooms. "And Cain?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's in his room or something. The Knights of the Dawn aren't aware of his… existence. The Knights don't have a lot of spare time on their hands to chat about some goddess's ex-husband," Vanessa said, shifting from foot to foot.

"Right. Want me to cover for you on your watches?"

Vanessa was mildly surprised. "I was thinking of asking…but I mean if you—" Stopped herself. "Yes, that would be appreciated. I got to go." She gave a quick smile and continued on her way.

*.*.*.*

_She didn't understand how she glided like that. Probably because she wasn't human. Definitely not human. _

"_I didn't get a chance to ask you; how have you been lately?" Angela asked._

_She hesitated. "I've….I'm fine."_

_She could hear a twinkly laugh ahead of her. "Mhmm. And I suppose that excludes your pain in your left shoulder? And the homesickness?"_

_She looked up sharply. She had been staring at the dark floor the whole time. "How do you know about that?"_

"_Kendra, Kendra, Kendra. You're so silly."_

_She rolled her eyes. _

"_I know all. There's nothing you can hide from me."_

That's kind of creepy, _she thought._

_Another twinkly laugh. _

_They continued walking and never stopped once. She started to wonder were exactly they were going. Was there even a point to all this? Everything around them was filled with shadows and darkness. The only light was the steady glow radiating from Angela. "Where exactly are we going?"_

"_Tired?"_

_She scoffed. "No, I just think this is pointless. Is there even a destination or are we just going for a stroll? I'm really not in the mood."_

_Angela slowly turned back to look at her. Her Barbie face flashed with brief amusement. "Patience. We are almost there."_

_After what seemed liked years, she could make out a slight disruption in the darkness. Unlike the stiff black around her, there was a hint of movement. It was definitely not a creature of any kind, but more of a mirage, or a lake. As they approached it, Kendra could differentiate numerous dark colors swirling around inside. It was the size of a large dull pond. _

"_We have arrived, Kendra," Angela announced harmoniously with a swift sweep of her arm. "Isn't it a sight?"_

_She searched the surface of the pool for any stray signs of life or reflection. "In its own way…but what exactly is it?"_

"_Have you never seen a Seeking Pond?"_

_She shook her head cautiously._

_Angela laughed her—annoying and overused—laugh. "I promise, it's not going to hurt you. It is simply a mirror of a sort that truthfully shows you whatever I tell it to. It could be a person or a place. In this case, it will be a place."_

"_How do I know that you won't be showing me something false?" she asked._

"_Like I said, the Pond cannot display anything that is not real or true. Yes, I control it, but I request that you trust me at least in this situation."_

_Angela guided her closer to the edge of the Looking Pond and mystically moved her arms in circular motions above it. She could hear her murmuring a few words that most likely activated the Pond. After a few moments, the flowing dull and dank colors of the surface spun together in a whirlpool of shades, until it gradually lightened and blossomed into bright greens and blues._

_Finally, the hues separated and formed the image of luscious fields covered with lilac flowers. The sky was of the clearest blue and proud eagles soared across. On top of a distant hill, she could make out a small family in front of a giant mansion waving their arms, welcoming her. The scene was very much like Heaven was depicted in movies. A paradise._

_She was awestruck. She couldn't deny that the place was beautiful. Even Fablehaven or the Queen's Shrine couldn't compare. "What…Where…" She spoke up. "What and where exactly is this place?"_

_Angela gave her an award-winning smile. "My home, which is also known as Evolot."_

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know. I haven't updated in months! But I finally got the chance to wrap up this chapter. I'm sure this one wasn't as exciting as I made it seem to be, but if everything goes as planned, then the next chapter will have a lot more.<strong>

**I almost forgot about the poll I put up. Anyway, Bracken is in the lead by 8 votes so far. Since it's been months anyway, the poll will be closed. I'm not going to say who I'm deciding will get the first kiss yet….soon maybe?**

**New poll up on my profile! Don't know how to get to it? Just type my username into the 'Search'.**

**Btw, I noticed that in some….well, most of my other chapters, I switched POVs and it didn't really show a break between the two. Sorry if it was really confusing. Currently, I'm trying to fix that problem.**

**Thank you to my old faithful and new readers! Keep the reviews coming for more suggestions and feedback! Summer is in about 2 months which will mean more time to update. Please wait a little longer for the next chapter!**

—**aznbooklover **


	18. Offers and Deals

**A/N: I updated as soon as I had time. Hope this was soon enough for you! Also, thanks to iMelinda, my first reviewer for Chap. 17. **

**Preview:**

_She was awestruck. She couldn't deny that the place was beautiful. Even Fablehaven or the Queen's Shrine couldn't compare. "What…Where…" She spoke up. "What and where exactly is this place?"_

_Angela gave her an award-winning smile. "My home, which is also known as Evolot."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

"_Evolot….? And this is a real place?" She stared into the depths of the image and didn't look up once._

_Angela smiled. "Why, of course! The Looking Pond does not lie. It can't." she replied without missing a beat. "Isn't my home just gorgeous?"_

_Her light boasting brought her back to reality. With a subtle shake of her head she raised her eyes. "Yes…yes, it's nice, but what's the point in all this? To brag about your little paradise?"_

"_Silly, little Kendra," Angela giggled as she swept her shining golden hair from her shoulder. "Me? Brag? No, no, no. I just wanted to give you a glimpse of where I dwell."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I have an offer, and it includes you and Evolot."_

_*.*.*.*_

Cain was calmly and silently making strokes across the canvas.

"Ahem."

He turned around with a jerk, but relaxed when he saw Gavin. One of the things Gavin liked most about Cain was the fact that he was new to their group and didn't know all the details about him like everyone else did. "Bored with your watches already?"

Gavin's eyes widened with surprise. "No, the unicorn wouldn't want me there. My watch is in—" He glanced at a nearby clock. "—about ten minutes."

"Ahh. So then what brings you here? Have you come to watch me sketch?" Cain had already turned back to his work.

"Just wanted to talk to you."

"About….?

"Silvertongue."

There was a pause and a quiet hitch in his breathing, but Gavin heard it. "You don't have to talk about it…I just…"

Cain let out a short laugh. "Its fine, it's fine. I should have expected it." He shifted his arm. "I know that I am a key to finding Kendra's antidote, or should I say, Evolot. So what exactly do you want to know?"

"Is there anything….private about her that you would be willing to tell me?"

"Her name."

"Silvertongue?"

"No, no. Her _real_ one," Cain corrected patiently. "Angela."

Angela? But it seemed so common and human. "Angela?"

"Strange isn't it? I thought it was way back then. How could such a goddess end up with a simple name like that? Perhaps it comes from the origin of 'angel'," Cain said thoughtfully.

"That would make sense." Gavin pulled out a chair and settled himself in. He peered across the mahogany table. "What are you sketching?"

Cain was using charcoal to shade in different shades of black and gray to form a picture. Before Gavin could turn his head to get a better view he covered it.

"Ah, this? One of my many artistic creations. I was inspired." Cain smiled ruefully.

"What is it?" Gavin asked.

"Eh…I'll show it you when it's done."

"Something special? Does it have some kind of meaning?"

Cain glanced at him. "What makes you think there is a meaning to it? Could it not be just something pretty to look at?"

Gavin shook his head. "Just have a feeling."

"Eh, maybe, maybe not."

"What do you plan to do with it?"

Cain paused. "Initially, I was going to hold on to it for a while to see if there was something I could add to it."

Gavin nodded. Then he said, "Have they told you not to trust me?"

"They?"

"You know, Bracken, Stan, Hank…them."

Cain slowly lowered his charcoal on top of his creation. "No. No, they haven't said anything like that. When we talked yesterday, they briefly introduced themselves and explained their situation with Kendra and the Knights of the Dawn and the Society of the Evening Star," he said. "Honestly, they barely even mentioned you."

Gavin was mildly surprised. "Oh."

"Why? Is there a particular reason why I shouldn't trust you?" Cain asked curiously.

"I've betrayed them before. I….killed a Knight. His name was Dougan Fisk," Gavin said. "I don't know if you know him, but he's the brother of a fairy broker, Maddox Fisk. He never did me any wrong before and I ate him. As a dragon. I was out of control. I just fought and didn't think twice about devouring him. That's only one reason why I'm a monster and can't be depended on.

"When I was 16, the Society ordered me to join the Knight of the Dawn. They gave me a pseudo last name—Rose—to shadow my true identity and plans. It worked perfectly; I was supposed to be Chuck Rose, a famous Dragon Tamer's, hidden son with the abilities of a dragon brother. I was welcomed into the team and given a room in the headquarters.

"I was immediately sent on a mission with Kendra and Warren to go to Lost Mesa and find another artifact. And I just did more bad things…."

When Gavin looked up he expected to see disgust or disappointment of some sort, or maybe even shock. But he himself was in shock. The emotion on Cain's face was sorrow.

"I could tell you a story, but that would take too long. Just keep this quote in mind: 'We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.'"

Gavin paused for a long moment before asking, "Whose quote was that?"

"Allison Croggon," Cain said. "Read it somewhere and it never left my mind since. Pretty much I'm telling you to forgive yourself before looking for another's forgiveness. Also, I can see that you look upon yourself as a truly evil person for doing those things. Yet, a truly _good_ person has the ability to admit to them and at least attempt to make them right."

"Whose saying was that?"

Cain got up to leave and flipped over his canvas and slipped it under his arm before Gavin could catch a glimpse. "Mine."

*.*.*.*

_She immediately became extra wary. "What offer?"_

"_Ease up, Kendra. It's a harmless offer that you can turn down," Angela said soothingly. "First I require you to answer this simple question honestly. Would you ever want to settle in a place like Evolot?"_

"_Yes…"_

_Angela beamed, exposing a minty white set of teeth. "Then here is my offer: come and live in Evolot."_

_She was stunned in speechlessness. This was the last thing she was expecting. "What?"_

"_In Evolot, there is no such thing as illness. You will instantly be cured of the Cytrion poison; no more pain, no more illusion, no more darkness. Anything and everything you have ever wanted will be available for you."_

_She was flustered and had trouble grasping the thought of Paradise as a life option. "But…Fablehaven…"_

_Angela slowly approached her. In a hypnotizing and reassuring voice she said, "Why think of Fablehaven when you are looking at the bigger picture? Evolot is better than that secluded, dangerous preserve. Admit it."_

_Her eyes glazed over and she numbly nodded her head. "Yes…"_

"_Everything is there just waiting for you. Also, it is fully populated with people I'm sure will understand you and make your life easier."_

"_That sounds nice…" she said absent-mindedly._

_Angela stood right in front of her. "Of course it does. No one can resist a temptation and an opportunity like this: a home, friends, and a family that will care for you much better than those back on Earth. You can have all this in mere seconds." _

_She didn't answer._

_Angela smiled as she magically brandished an ornate gold box in her palm. On the front was a simple keyhole. Next, she pulled out an intricate sleek silver key from the folds of her long skirts. "All you have to do is accept the key and say 'I accept your offer to dwell in Evolot'. Put the key in the keyhole and the deal is done."_

_She nodded. Slowly, robotically, she reached out her hand…_

_*.*.*.*_

Bracken didn't bother looking up. "I'm staying here."

Gavin nodded, closing the door behind him. "Anything new happen?"

"No."

Gavin stared at him. "You think the attack on Fablehaven was because of me." He said it as a fact, not a question.

At first, Bracken tried ignoring him, but he couldn't help himself. "Why else would there be a sudden Cytrion attack? The Society of the Evening Star probably realized their mistake in letting you walk away, so now they're forcefully getting you back. The only problem I have with that is that Kendra had to get hurt."

"Instead of me?" Gavin said. He plunked down on Seth's bed. "I didn't want this either." He sighed. "Look, I've been thinking, and from what information I've gathered I don't think it was the Society."

"Of course it was. Who else—"

"Unicorn, stop and just listen for a second," Gavin interrupted. "If you don't believe that I'm saying this out of concern and realization, and not to misinform you because I want to fool you, then you can hold my hand like a little girl and do your mind tricks."

"Fine, what then?" Bracken huffed, crossing his arms.

"Okay, have you heard of the other attacks on Knight of the Dawn headquarters and bases?" Nod. "Haven't you noticed how more uncoordinated and simple the Cytrion attack was?"

"Simple how?"

"It seemed like the offensive force was just given a short and simple order like, 'Attack them' or 'Kill them'. It wasn't thought through. I mean, from what I've learned from the Society they are more strategic. In the past, they used Vanessa as a spy to get information instead of just choosing to send a retrieval group to attack and kidnap someone and torture the information out of them. Things only got violent and impulsive when Vanessa's identity was found out. With that in mind, they wouldn't immediately throw forward a demon as powerful and advantageous as a Cytrion, at least not as a first attack."

Bracken caught on. "Which would explain why the assaults on the Knight bases were dangerous, but consisted of easily retrievable monsters. Well, for the Society. And this also concludes that the masterminds behind the attacks weren't the same."

Gavin nodded. "Exactly."

"Why are you telling _me_ this? You should've gone straight to Stan with this kind of information."

"Everyone else has others things their dealing with. Something's wrong with the Kendra and Seth's other grandma and parents on that cruise or whatever. Warren and Vanessa just left to cover for injured Knights. You seemed to have some time on your hands to listen, even to me," Gavin said.

"Why not keep this to yourself?"

"Because it concerns Kendra since she was most…affected by the attack. And whatever concerns Kendra concerns you, right?" Gavin smirked.

Bracken narrowed his eyebrows but wasn't looking for a fight. Gavin had willingly given him valuable information that could help him find out who did this to Kendra. This gave him another idea as how to find the antidote.

"Unicorn, no matter how much I don't like you, I could care less on who cures Kendra. I know I can't do it on my own," Gavin said seriously. Bracken nodded in reply.

"How about this: we don't fight over Kendra till after she awakens. While she's comatose no one makes a move on her. Deal?" Bracken stood up and held his hand out to Gavin. He stared at it, wondering if it was a genuine deal, and then took it.

"Deal."

*.*.*.*

_She reached out her hand…._

_And slapped Angela across the face with all the power she could muster._

_The sound was like gunfire in a library; it echoed through the darkness. Angela's butter blonde hair whipped across her face as her head was thrown to the side by the force of the slap. After a few seconds, she slowly turned her face to reveal a red mark on her cheek and wide, shocked eyes._

"_You must be completely, absolutely, insanely _stupid _to think anyone can replace my family and friends. No one, not even in your dumb fantasy world, can take better care of me than those back on Earth," she said. "So no, I don't accept your offer. I can't imagine ever even living anywhere that's close to someone as evil, hideous, and stupid as you!"_

_She grabbed the slim key from Angela's hand and threw it far into the Looking Pond as she could. She watched as it flipped into the air and splashed into the Pond, shattering the image of Evolot._

_She turned back to Angela. And flinched back. After she had thrown the key, Angela had smashed the fragile golden box in her fist and transformed from an angel into a witch. Her usual bright, white glow had darkened visibly and her eyes were angry red slits. With an angry scream, she used an unimaginable force to knock her off her feet and fall harshly a couple feet away._

"_HOW DARE YOU? How dare you insult me and my creation? You think you can go up against someone like me? Big mistake!" she screeched. "Kendra Sorenson, I swear on every single human's unworthy life that I will do everything in my power to make your last worthless moments alive a living hell. You think the illusions were enough? Did you think the pain was unbearable? Oh, you were wrong little girl. Here, I can make every fear you've ever had come true. Over. And. Over. Again. The pain? I'll make life so unbearable you'll wish I'd just killed you now."_

_She stared right into her eyes. "Bite me."_

_Angela was ready to attack her, but then stopped. And laughed._

"_Forgot to take you crazy pills, Angela?"_

_She stopped laughing and looked at her with a catty smile. "I won't torture you, Kendra. You've gotten tough over the past 2 years. I've watched you progress. Before, you would have been scared stuttering and shaking. But not now."_

"_So what? You changed your mind because I got tougher?"_

"_No, silly. I got a _better idea_. I'll let you dwell here, while I go target Fablehaven."_

"_No!" she screamed. "You can't!"_

"_But I can. I'll start with the boys. That would be interesting don't you think?" Angela said._

"_Leave them alone!"_

"_But I can't do that. Someone has to pay for this," she said, pointing to her red cheek._

"_No, no. Please no!"_

_Angela pursed her lips in a mocking way. "Since you said 'please', I've changed my mind."_

_She waited hopefully._

"_I'll still start with the boys of course, but I won't hurt them. I'll just offer them what I offered you."_

_She was horrified. Angela was going to tempt them? What is they didn't say no? They would be condemned to live with her in Evolot! They would be brainwashed and gone. _

"I_ slapped you! Me. Leave my family and friends alone. Don't you have a conscience?" she said frantically._

"_Yes, but it's not feeling very merciful at the moment. I realized that when they suffer, you suffer more. You're such a hero, you know that? It has helped you in the past, but surely it won't help you now." With a last cruel grin, she twirled her fingers and disappeared. The glow and the Looking Pond followed. She was left in complete and familiar darkness._

_She was stunned and quiet. What now? She couldn't do anything. The fact hurt her. But what hurt the most was that it was all her fault. She dwelled on the thought for ages until the pain in her arm and the haunting illusions began again._

*.*.*.*

Earlier, Ruth and Seth had come inside to check up on Kendra and to inform Bracken and Gavin that Seth and Kendra's parents and grandma were currently in hiding. Stan and Hank had secretly decided to send two undercover Knight of the Dawn to watch over them during their vacation. They soon discovered that Society members had been acting as staff in hopes to retrieve Fablehaven information from their cabins. Thankfully, the whole reason they went on the cruise was to escape from the magical world for a week so no valuable information was revealed. Of course, when the Society was found out, the Knights identified themselves to Grandma Gloria and their parents. As the boat stopped in a town for a tour and a supply reload, they snuck off. They avoided giving any details about their location in case the message was intercepted. All they knew was that they were in a safe and reliable place.

Seth had watched Kendra with them for an hour before going back down to practice throwing knives in a defense 'dojo' they had built behind the barn. Dana was currently sleeping downstairs in the couch while Cain was outside talking with Dale about faeries and Hugo.

"How old are you?"

Gavin was looking outside the attic window when he replied. "Almost twenty. You? Wait, no, nevermind. I already know."

Bracken rolled his eyes. "You say you're twenty but you act like a thirteen-year-old."

"Effects of my childhood," Gavin said under his breath. Bracken heard but didn't say anything.

An hour ago, they had had a small argument and when Bracken brought up their deal, Gavin had said, "The deal was we don't fight _over Kendra_. I still don't like you."

For a good while now, the pair had started a game of questions. There was none directly about Kendra; mostly general personal questions. They threw jabs at each other every other couple of questions, but for the most part, they were being civil.

"What's your full name?" Bracken asked.

Gavin thought. "Gavin Zephano."

"Really? No 'Navarog'?" Bracken asked, picking at his jeans.

"No, that was just a title," said Gavin. "I didn't want it, but I had to take it."

Bracken was confused. "Why?"

He hesitated. "For…"

Without warning, a blinding white light filled the attic room, prompting Bracken and Gavin to shut their eyes and look down. Once several seconds passed, the light left as quickly as it had come. When Gavin and Bracken finally opened their eyes, they immediately saw stars.

"What in the world did you _do_?" they yelled at each other in unison. As the lights dancing in front of their eyes faded, they glared.

"Unicorn, are you trying to blind me?"

"I didn't do anything!" he said, irritated. He massaged his eyes gingerly with his fingertips. "I don't know what happened."

When Gavin glanced over to Kendra's bed to check if she was okay, something—some_things_—caught his eye. "Hey."

"What?" Bracken made a move towards the bed but stopped. "A…key?"

Gavin shook his head. "No, _two_."

In both of Kendra's palms rested two slim, dull silver keys. They had identical teeth and complicated engravings. Tentatively, Bracken approached the key on the right and slipped it out from Kendra's still fingers. Gavin followed suit. Silently, they observed the keys, turning them repeatedly in their hands and tracing over the designs.

"Keys to Evolot, aren't they?" Bracken said. "Cain said Kendra was supposed to get the key because she needs it." He carefully put two fingers under her wrist. "There's a pulse. She's alive."

"But something went wrong. Why did we get the pass to Evolot? Two in fact."

"I have only half of a key," Bracken remarked.

Gavin checked his. "So do I."

"Why cut a key in half? Unless…there's a reason," Bracken said. "Does it mean something?"

"Halves," Gavin muttered thoughtfully. "Of a whole. Halves. Cutting in two. Two. Two people."

"Two people are supposed to use the combined key," Bracken concluded. "Two people are going to Evolot. Two people are going to go find the antidote to save Kendra." He glanced at Gavin. "Get everyone. We need to decide who the two people are going to be, and the sooner the better."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Finally updated after a couple of months:) Things are going a bit faster in the plot now. Hope you like this chapter…Kendra's starting to fight back! Yes, I noticed that I'm REALLY trailing from the Brandon Mull-esque kind of writing, but I had so much fun with these scenes…So pretty much this isn't very Fablehaven status anymore, especially since there are more romance scenes to come (of course nothing inappropriate, that I can promise^-^) <strong>

**So Bracken and Gavin are civil at the moment (but not for long). Two people are going to Evolot, who are the lucky dudes? Find out in Chapter 19, which I don't think I can finish before my trip to the Philippines. But for sure I'll start it since I'm all packed.**

**Remember, about the previous chapters that are now edited and updated blah blah blah….**

**My profile has important and recent updates every week or so. New polls to vote in too:D**

**Also, please PM or review your idea of what the main characters look like. Brandon Mull said somewhere that he didn't give very much physical detail on the characters so that readers could use their imagination…which makes it harder for me. I'm especially looking for physical characteristics for Kendra, Bracken, Gavin(although I have some idea), Seth, Trask, Warren, and Vanessa. Thanks!**

**Review your thoughts on my ROTDP book cover I made on photoshop posted here: art/Return-of-the-Dragon-Prince-Original-Book-Cover-313463696  
><strong>

**PM and review your thoughts!**

—**aznbooklover **


	19. The Keys

**A/N: Shoutout to my Chap 18 first reviewer 'Joey':)**

**Preview:**

"_Halves," Gavin muttered thoughtfully. "Of a whole. Halves. Cutting in two. Two. Two people."_

"_Two people are supposed to use the combined key," Bracken concluded. "Two people are going to Evolot. Two people are going to go find the antidote to save Kendra." He glanced at Gavin. "Get everyone. We need to decide who the two people are going to be, and the sooner the better."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

"We don't have time to call them back here," Seth argued. "We have to make a decision now. What if the keys disappear? Or worse—what if Kendra doesn't…."

"Seth's right, Ruth. We have to choose from the people who are here now," Bracken said. "I think I should go to Evolot. Anyone who disagrees tell me now."

No one said a word. "Okay. I have the first spot. Who else is going?"

Seth stood up. "I am. I'm her brother. You know that I won't be able to just sit here when I know that there was something I could have done. I'm also a Shadow Charmer. You never know if it might come in handy at some point."

"Seth, _no_. Your parents would never forgive us if they found out that both of children were at risk," Ruth argued, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Kendra is already hurt and on the verge of death. Don't add to the number of people dying!"

"But I'm not going to just stay here!" Seth exclaimed in a frustrated tone. Why wouldn't they let him save his sister? Yes, he was younger than most of the people present but he knew that his powers were valuable. They could help.

"Why can't we just all go?" Dana said. "I mean, come on. There's what? Four of us who can go? Why don't two people hold each half?"

"Five," Cain piped up. "Bracken, Gavin, Dana, Seth and me."

Bracken and Gavin were surprised for a moment; they had forgotten about Cain. "You want to back there? But your wife…ex-wife…."

"Angela, or Silvertongue as you all call her, won't be glad to see me for sure. Honestly, I don't even know if I would be allowed entrance to Evolot ever again even if I was able to use one of the key halves. But I want you to know that I will be willing to give any assistance I can, and for now all I can offer is my manpower," Cain said sincerely.

Everyone nodded in thanks. They were grateful that it was for certain that Cain was on board. However, the situation with Evolot had to be addressed. Eventually, arguments concerning Seth' safety and the keys' eligibility rose again.

"Can I say something? Look, I know my opinion probably doesn't really count and isn't appreciated, but I think that the more time spent here debating who's going the more time wasted," Gavin said. "And I bet you're all going to argue about what I'm going to say next, but I want to go. I need to go!" He sighed. "I know that you know that I can and will do anything in my power to help Kendra and Fablehaven in order to make up for Lost Mesa and Navarog. If this is what it takes for you to trust me as you had Gavin Rose three years ago, then so be it. "

It was quiet. It wasn't as if everyone hadn't expected Gavin to volunteer—the fact that he was helping them at all proved that he held some sort of concern for Kendra—but they were speechless when they realized that Gavin cared about what they thought about him. From what he had been like before, or at least what his personality as Navarog was like, he was supposed to be reckless, confident, and indifferent. Just a week ago, he was quick to talk back or show his familiar smirk. Now, his face was oddly calm, but his eyes were impatient and pleading with a tint of desperation. Maybe there was more to Gavin than what met the eye. To top it off, it was as if he was begging to go, something that shouldn't have come easy to Navarog.

"I think it would be wise to consider Gavin as the second person to go," Cain eased in. "Angela will be very interested in meeting you, for it's likely that she already knows of all of your powers. Being unusual or unique is an advantage when facing Angela." Gavin shot a grateful look his way.

Bracken slowly nodded and fiddled with the half key in his hand. "Of course. That makes sense." Seth raised his eyebrows at Bracken's unexpected agreement but decided against speaking about it.

"So will it be Bracken and Gavin traveling?" Stan confirmed.

Seth looked downcast. "But I can't do nothing…"

With a stern look on his face, Hank clamped his hand on his shoulder. He turned him so that they were face to face and spoke quietly. "Listen, Seth. We both know that Bracken and Gavin are perfectly capable of acquiring the antidote. I do not doubt your abilities either. I think you would be able to retrieve it also. Think of it this way: if Bracken and Gavin are chosen to leave for Evolot who will be left?"

He did a quick calculation. "Well, me, Dana, you, Grandma, and Grandpa Larsen. And Cain," Seth replied carefully.

"Correct. Think about it, Seth. If there was to be an attack by the Society of the Evening Star when they are gone, who out of the six of us remaining can fight?"

Understanding dawned on him. "Me and Dana. I don't know if Cain can fight combat," he said with a glance at Cain, "but that would still leave us with at most three fighters left to defend."

"If you were to go with them Dana would be left alone to fight. She has skill I'm sure, but I know her forte is potions. Cain is human and hasn't been trained to fight against demons. Stan, Ruth, and I are too old for fighting; the best we could do to aid the defenders of Fablehaven would be to ask for reinforcements and attempt to put up additional wards. That wouldn't be enough. But think, if we had a Shadow Charmer with a background of weapons and defensive skills, wouldn't our chances of protecting the preserve be higher?" Hank said kindly.

"Yes," Seth admitted.

"You would still be protecting Kendra. You'd still be fighting for her. Now, do you agree to stay and defend Fablehaven?"

"Yes," he said again. He still looked unhappy, but there was a sense of purpose and determination in his eyes. "I say that Bracken and Gavin go to Evolot. They'll get the job done right."

Dana glanced at Seth and based on his expression she relented. She really only wanted to go to Evolot to not be left alone. Truly, she disliked the idea of facing Silvertongue, an unnatural goddess. She didn't mind staying as long as someone she could talk to and was familiar was left too. "I second that."

"As do I. My presence would only make things harder for my wife and me," Cain claimed.

"Since we all agree that Bracken and Gavin will claim the two halves, they must prepare for Evolot. And it wouldn't hurt for the rest of us to arm ourselves," Ruth said.

With a new air of determination and anxiety, the headed downstairs to the weapons room.

*.*.*.*

The men are coming for her, Angela thought with a laugh. Stupid least she was pleased with their understanding of her message. It would have been difficult to find another way to make them realize that she wanted two people to appear before her.

However, she had left it up to fate to make sure that the people left in Fablehaven would choose those particular two to go. They, along with the Shadow Charmer, interested her the most. The Shadow Charmer would be sent for next once her first plan worked.

Angela watched Cain for a few moments, with a look of disgust. Traitor, she thought. He betrayed me once. Was it so hard for him to listen obediently, after all I did for him? He never fails to remind me why I should punish him. She sighed. Her conscience surprised her; she had not chosen to just get rid of him.

She turned away from the Looking Pond, swishing her skirts. She had to get her façade ready for their arrival. What would tempt them the most, a blonde? An exotic Amazon princess? Silvertongue shook her head. She chided herself for having forgotten; there was only one face in all of Evolot that would tempt them. Kendra's. But she knew that Gavin and Bracken would be able to see through her disguise if she talked to them for an extended amount of time. Changing into Kendra Sorenson would only be her Plan B. Although she highly doubted Plan A would be a failure.

Angela closed her eyes in order to materialize in the middle of endless grassy plains. Flowers dotted the plains and the sky stretched for miles. With a wave of her hand, clouds formed. There was no end to her kingdom. The surroundings made it seem like anyone who tried to run away or escape would fail.

She despised the idea of giving up her beautiful face to look like someone as plain and average as _her_. She wondered what those two boys saw in her. Kendra was easy to break; the illusions about her and Bracken being together had proven that. But the slap she had received from her was undeniably uncalled for. Did Kendra really think the almighty Silvertongue would just let that pass, let it go?

And she wanted to obtain the power she had. A chance to become fairykind was something she had looked for for a long time. When she discovered that a young girl was gifted by the Fairy Queen she knew she had to make it hers.

And to think, she had been merciful! She had offered that ungrateful girl a chance to live in Evolot; an escape from the pain she was feeling now. It was a fair trade, in her opinion. I could have been crueler and offered her nothing in exchange, Angela thought. That pain wasn't enough for her lack of appreciation and defiance.

Karma would come for her too late. No, revenge was faster…and sweeter.

*.*.*.*

Gavin buckled in the last few straps of his vest. The lightweight sword bumped against his thigh as he reached over to sharpen the two daggers he planned to stash in his boots. He glanced over at the others. They had stopped watching him closely as they had before whenever he was near weaponry. As if he would suddenly attack them.

Bracken was already waiting by the doorway and stared up the stairs. Gavin warily approached him. "I'm surprised you agreed to my request to go with you. You, of all people, should have thrown a fit."

"No fighting remember? What about our deal?" Bracken said.

"I'm not fighting with you. I'm making conversation," Gavin said. "And have you forgotten? The deal wasn't 'no fighting at all'; it was 'no fighting over Kendra'."

"Look, I agreed because I know you can help. And I think Cain was right when he said that having someone along with…a different type of power will be advantageous. I'm only being fair."

Gavin nodded curtly. "Seth would have been an advantageous person to accompany you."

"Do you _want_ to be replaced by Seth on this mission?"

He scowled. "No. Never mind."

Bracken sighed. "Kendra wouldn't want me—us—to send her brother there unless we absolutely had to. Seth will probably be busy here anyway. The attacks on the Knight bases are increasing and eventually our enemies will target Fablehaven. Tonight might be the time they decide to fire."

"What about what I told you the other day? You know, about the Cytrion attack?" Gavin brought up.

"I don't know," he replied with a glance out a nearby window. "Your theory makes sense but the Society of the Evening Star is our only big threat. There's no other enemy."

"I think there is."

Bracken stared at Gavin. "Who?"

"I don't know," Gavin said. "I have a feeling…"

"Bracken, Gavin, everyone else is all set," Hank called. It was true. Seth wore a similar vest to Gavin's, one with pockets for holding small blades and emergency potions. He adjusted his grip on his sword and flipped it around until he was satisfied. Dana peered at her sai, making sure there was no damage or dullness. Ruth was armed with her familiar crossbow and Hank tested a traditional spear contraption that easily shrunk down to the size of a pen. Stan had chosen a bow and a copper quiver of a dozen arrows, tipped with acid poison. Cain wasn't necessarily expected to fight, for they had given him more protection in the form of leather accessories than weapons, but he still had a dagger sheath attached to his left leg.

With a last look at Gavin, Bracken nodded. "Let's go up."

Their apprehension sped up the ascent up the flight of stairs. The thought of venturing into the unfamiliar world of Evolot was unnerving. They shuffled into the attic room and quietly shut the door.

Cain handed Bracken and Gavin each a half of the silver key. "Now put them together."

Slowly, they reached out until the two parts met. As soon as they completely matched up with one another to form a single key a blinding white flashed throughout the room as it had done so just earlier. Everyone covered their eyes with a groan. Stars and bursts of colors danced across their eyes. After a few moments they could see what had happened.

The once dull silver halves had transformed into a shiny radiant single key. The engravings had the appearance of curving streams of diamonds, causing them to blink. All other light sources were put to shame.

On the headboard, just above where Kendra's head lay, a small pulsing keyhole was faintly outlined. To enter Evolot, all they had to do was slip the key into the keyhole and turn.

"Well, this is it," Cain said. "Your passage to Evolot."

Hank, Stan, and Ruth approached them with serious expressions. "Be careful there, you two. We don't have much to go on what will happen. However, this is our last chance to save Kendra. I regret putting this upon your shoulders. Perhaps you will think of a way to retrieve the antidote without needing to give something in return, for there is a big possibility she will ask for something once you reject the temptation. Our hopes and good luck go to you both."

"Thank you."

Cain stepped forward next. "My wife is not so bad. I would hope that she won't harm either of you in any way, but still be aware. She has tricks up her sleeves," he chuckled sadly. "With that in mind I hope there won't be any reason for you to have to hurt her either. Send my regards if you have time."

"Of course."

"I don't know you both all that well…but still. Good luck in Evolot. Find the antidote and bring it back," Dana said quietly.

"We will," Bracken answered. Gavin just nodded.

Finally, Seth came forward. "Guys, my sister doesn't have much time left. You have to get the antidote fast. If you have to tie Silvertongue down to get it…" Seth quickly looked at Cain, who looked mildly amused.

"You know if it came to that we would do it," Bracken said. "Seth, you know I'd do anything for your sister."

"I do know that. I've seen you overprotective over Kendra so many times already these past two years," Seth said with a grin. "And I can predict what you're going to say, Gavin, but will you do anything to get that cure as well?"

Gavin hadn't expected to be talked to directly. "I'll trust my instincts that your prediction matches with my intentions."

Seth laughed quietly. "If I'm right, then you're good to go. I know you've heard this about a billion times already, but good luck."

It was time to go. The unicorn and the dragon positioned themselves on either side of Kendra. "How do we go about doing this? There's two of us here…and one key," Gavin pointed out.

"Hold hands?" Seth suggested.

"No," Bracken and Gavin said in unison.

"I think as long as you're touching you both will be transported to Evolot," Cain said. "If you don't want to hold hands, then one of you grab onto the other's shirt of something of theirs."

Bracken refused to hand over the key to Gavin, so he was forced to walk over to Bracken's side and grip onto his scabbard. After a meaningful last look at Kendra's face, which was now inhumanly pale and tinged with a deathly blue, Gavin spoke, "We'll be back."

Everyone else watched as Bracken slowly inserted the key into the brilliant keyhole. Although there was supposed to be solid wood inside the hole outline, the key slipped through as if the headboard was made out of butter. Bracken's expression became shocked by this outcome, but quickly returned to its determined state. As soon as the entire key was buried into the hole, Bracken said quietly so only Gavin could hear, "For Kendra."

Then he turned the key.

Again, the blinding white light blazed through the room, but they were ready for it. Cain, Seth, Dana, Ruth, Stan, and Hank closed their eyes or covered them with their arms. When it was finally safe to open them, the two men were gone, as was the keyhole in the headboard. "That's it," Cain said. "They should be in Evolot right now. All we can do is wait."

"What if they need help? Is there any way to get in?" Dana asked.

"From what I know, only a key can give you entrance," Cain said. "And we can't go out looking for Evolot, wherever it is…"

"Okay, okay," Seth said loudly, instantly taking charge. "We need someone stationed here, just in case they come back or there's something to update. Not everyone needs to stand guard, especially since we don't know for sure is there's even going to be an attack."

"I'll do it," Cain volunteered. "I mean, even though I'm armed and all, I'm not very experienced in the combat field. The best I could do would be defending myself. I'd probably just get in the way of the real battle."

"That'll be fine. Hank, Ruth," Stan said turning to the two elders, "Let's head back to my office. I'm sure there were many calls and messages left when we were occupied. We'll have to chart our next move and rally up any allies nearby to help defend the Knights." They quickly excused themselves and only gave a quick glance back in the room before heading out.

Cain got comfy in the chair next to Kendra and spied a thick book about the history of centaurs. Interested, he picked it up and became engrossed almost immediately. Which left Seth and Dana.

"I guess we're left with fighting for Fablehaven," Seth sighed quietly, stepping through the attic room door.

"Sure, except you forgot the part where there's nothing to fight against," Dana said.

He groaned. "And I also forgot that I was left with _you_."

Dana rolled her eyes. "You should be grateful. Now you have someone to talk to."

"You mean someone to annoy me."

"Whatever. Come on, let's get ready to 'fight'," she retorted, making quotation marks with her fingers.

"You don't have to jinx it. I already have a bad enough feeling as it is."

*.*.*.*

Traveling to Evolot was unreal. It was as if gravity had ceased to exist and they were floating in midair. Bracken was suspended in a world surrounded by light, which he expected. It wasn't the familiar, blinding light; more like being on Earth after a blizzard. And there was no sign of Gavin.

Without warning, Bracken felt like he was being dropped from thousands of feet in the air and was plummeting down like a meteor back to the ground. Instead of screaming he closed his eyes tightly and let himself falling, frantically hoping that _something_ was going to catch him.

Eventually, the air around him slowed his descent, little by little, until Bracken could see from the back of his eyelids that the light was waning. Once the fall stopped, he still couldn't feel solid ground beneath him. He finally opened his eyes and looked down. He was about a foot away from reaching the ground. Bracken looked around him, trying to figure out a way to drop down.

"Just take a fall forward," a voice behind him said. Gavin approached him, looking unaffected by the drop.

"What?"

"Lean forward. There'll be gravity again."

Bracken hesitantly shifted his body weight forward and as Gavin said, gravity existed again and the ground rushed up to meet him. Before he could fall face-first, he threw his hands and knees forward and fell in a crouch. It was ungraceful, but at least he wasn't scratched.

Bracken got up and brushed himself off. "Interesting way to get to Evolot," he muttered.

"You didn't like the fall?" Gavin for once didn't sound sarcastic.

"I didn't think there would be one. You didn't seem to mind it," Bracken said.

"It reminded me of flying."

"Of course." Finally, Bracken averted his attention to the scenery around him and stared. Wondrous rolling hills of long healthy grasses spread across the horizon and blossoms of flowers spotted the plains. The sky was a clear periwinkle blue and held fluffy white clouds. However, there was no sun; light radiated from the land itself.

"It's very…paradise-like," Bracken said hesitantly.

Gavin understood what he meant. "You can tell that it's false. I've never been to a place that looked like this that wasn't filled with trouble."

Bracken had hoped that Silvertongue would be waiting for them once they arrived. He preferred that they obtained the cure as soon as possible. After all, they were on limited time. It didn't help that they were unaware whether the time difference was the same as Cain's experience. What if it was the opposite and more time passed in Fablehaven than here in Evolot. He tried to focus on their objective but his mind couldn't stop returning to the attic room and Kendra.

He looked at Gavin, who was staring up at the sky, probably assuming something bad was going to attack. But when he really looked at him, he realized that what he was really thinking about was flying. The last time he had transformed was at Lost Mesa. Bracken sort of sympathized with him; he had had similar feelings when he had first given up his horn. He also knew that Gavin wouldn't selfishly ask for time to fly, no matter how rude and unpredictable he was. After all, he wanted the same thing as he did.

Sympathy made Bracken ask, "You want to fly don't you?"

Gavin was startled. "What?"

"You miss flying right? And don't deny it; you're looking at the sky as if you're hoping you'll drop again. And if you fly, you might be able to see something."

"I know we made a temporary peace treaty and all, but I don't need any sympathy, Unicorn. That wasn't part of the deal if I remember correctly. You make it seem as if I won't live if I don't fly. I'm perfectly fine," Gavin retorted. "We are not friends."

Bracken groaned. "I was just trying to be nice. I never said we were friends. And it could have benefited us anyway."

"If I was up there," Gavin pointed up, "then who would save you from the evil beings down here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks for your concern," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bracken inspected the grass and tried to detect any signs of life. There was none. But from the corner of his eye, he saw a reflection. "What's that?"

"What?" Gavin followed his gaze and squinted at the reflection. "A mirage?"

"Can't be. I think it's a pool, or a pond," he said.

"Okay," Gavin said gruffly. "I'm guessing the plan is to see what it is up close?"

"Well there's nothing else to do is there?" He placed a firm hand on the hilt of his sword and began to hike up the nearest hill towards the reflection. And Gavin had no choice but to follow.

* * *

><p><strong>DONE! I finally completed Chapter 19! Sorry for the super long wait. Every time I try to finish it, I always have something more to do…but it's now winter break! I'll have plenty of time for writing.<strong>

**As for the poll (PredictIt) it is no officially closed. I should have ended it a long time ago though. Anyway the results ended with Bracken leading with 6, Gavin in second with 4, and 'new, upcoming character' with 3. Oh yeah, someone voted for Warren and Vanessa once. The answer to who will eventually get the antidote is ONE OF THE CHOICES. Who? Stay tuned!**

**New poll is up once again! However, it will be closed sooner than usual because I need the answer/ majority ASAP for future reference. Remember: polls are just for reference and to see what you think! Might not actually happen in the story.**

**As I always do at the end of the chapters, I want to say thank you thank you thank you for supporting me and ROTDP! Questions, suggestions, concerns in reviews and/or PMs:)**

**Also I decided to include answers to some questions or comments:**

**Guest(?): No, Gavin and Kendra are not dating in my fanfic. They've been in a sort of a mutual understanding kind of thing, but nothing is official. That gets pushed aside since Gavin is now in the picture, at least for now.**

**GlitterPancakes: Haha thank you for all your reviews! I hope I don't disappoint you and meet expectations! (This actually goes to all readers)**

**daughterofares14: Thank you:) I realize there is a lack of detail and hope to improve my writing in the future. I think I hurry too much so that I can finish the chapter as soon as possible!**

**Oh, thanks to all those who wished me well on my trip! It was great~**

—**aznbooklover **


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